


love is what you deserve

by brazilianchild



Category: The Society (TV 2019)
Genre: AND THERE WAS ONLY ONE BED Y'ALL, Alternate Universe, Angst, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Mutual Pining, Unrequited Love, becca and gwen are soft lesbians, has severe rom com vibes, im fitting in as many tropes in this as i can count and no one can stop me, kind of a Suits AU, will is more of a dick in this fic and i have no regrets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-12
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2020-08-20 01:43:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 22,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20219719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brazilianchild/pseuds/brazilianchild
Summary: There are plenty of ways that coming to your ex-crush’s wedding with a revenge plan could’ve gone wrong. Allie just never thought it would goquitelike this.





	1. you've got mail

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, so I really wanted to write a hallie multichapter fic but I never found any inspiraton (shoutout to Maria for suffering through me trying to find said inspiration). But then I saw this prompt on Tumblr and BAM! Inspiration!!! This is going to be the fluffy romcom fic that hallie deserves and I hope you guys like it. <3
> 
> Btw, my chapters are usually a lot longer than this it's just this is kinda like before things get started, you know? So it might take a while to update because chapter 2 is going to be a lot longer.
> 
> Also this has some Suit elements because I felt like it lol.
> 
> The chapter title comes from the romcom "You've Got Mail." (Every chapter title is going to be named after a different romcom hehe)

Allie had dropped her mail on the edge of her desk when she’d gotten in for work that morning, and she hadn’t really thought of it since. She was too busy scouring through the files for the Miller v. Doyle case that she didn’t even have a chance to get to it until late afternoon.

She was searching for a reason to take a break and as her eye caught sight of the stack of envelopes in the corner, she saw her excuse. 

She reached for her mail and leaned back in her chair lazily as she sorted through it. Bills. Bills. Delivery Pamphlets.

She frowned as she picked out a golden envelope. She opened it quickly, curiosity getting the best of her, and she pulled out the letter. No… not a letter. But an invitation. A wedding invitation. 

Her heart stopped when she read the names on it. 

_You are cordially invited to the wedding of_

__

WILLIAM LECLAIR

__

and

__

KELLY ALDRICH

_June 24th - 26th 2020 in the Clear Water Resort, Honolulu, Hawaii_

__

_Further details are to be found on the back_

__

Allie lowered the invitation as the words sunk in. He was getting married._Married._

The guy she was in love with for years was _getting married. _

A thought came up in her panic-stricken brain as she refused to process what she’d just found out: she needed food. 

She got up from her desk and walked over to the other side of the bullpen. She found Harry at his desk, typing something on his computer. 

Without a word, she opened up one of his drawers to find his food stash. 

“Hey Allie, what’s- No! Not my gummy worms!” 

Harry leaned over to grab them from her but she inched out of reach. She was staring off into the wall, not really acknowledging him as she leaned against his desk.

He gave a good look at her and asked. “What’s wrong?”

She didn’t answer but instead just handed him the invitation she clutched in her hand. 

He took it from her and took a second to read it. He groaned and handed it back to her. “Weddings are the worst. They’re just reasons for people you haven’t talked to in years to rub their happiness in your face.” He shuddered. “Who are the offenders?”

Allie didn’t reply for a while. She just needed a second to process.

She ripped a gummy worm in half with her teeth and tossed the pack back to Harry. He caught it easily and took a couple worms himself while waiting for her response. 

“Remember that guy from college I told you about?”

Harry scrunched his eyebrows. “The one who threw up in your sink and never called you again?”

She rolled her eyes. “Ew, no. I shouldn’t have told you that story.” She sighed and pushed her hair back. “I meant the guy I was in love with basically all of college who friendzoned me.”

He straightened up, “You mean that douche who led you on for the fun of it?”

She protested immediately. “He’s not a douche and he didn’t lead me on!”

He scoffed and raised an eyebrow at her. “You said you guys used to sleep on the same bed sometimes.”

“Yeah but it was different than it sounds like.” She didn’t want to get in to it. It was a time filled with hurt and tarnished memories. Trying to explain her relationship with Will was like picking at a scab that took years to heal. She tugged the sleeves of her blue dress. “It was my fault. It was all in my head.”

She could see Harry wasn’t happy with her answer but he smartly dropped it. “So I’m guessing this is the guy getting married?”

Allie nodded. She groaned and covered her face with her hands. “What am I gonna do?”

“Don’t go.” He said simply. 

She took her hands away from her face. “I can’t _not_ go. We were best friends and it would be weird if I didn’t go. It’s not his fault that I felt something he didn’t.”

“Fine. Why don’t you just go with a hot date and rub it in his face what he missed out on.”

“Are you kidding? I’m an associate Harry, I never stop working. I barely have time to do my laundry and you think I have time to find a date?”

“Just ask one of your friends to go with you.” He sorted through the pack until he found a red gummy worm. 

“I don’t even know who I would…” She trailed off. 

She had her “I just had the best idea” smirk and it took him a second before understanding what she was thinking. 

He shook his head and started protesting immediately, swiveling away from her. “No, no. No way.”

She grabbed the back of his chair and pulled him back to her. “Pleaaase. You’d be perfect.”

He just repeated his previous answer. “_No_. I’m not wasting my few vacation days on something I don’t even want to go to.” 

“But you said I should bring someone who’s hot and there’s no one hotter than you.”

He squinted his eyes at her. “I know what you’re doing. And flattery will get you nowhere.”

“It’s not flattery if it’s true.”

“_Allie_…”

“Okay, fine but you can’t tell me it’s not working.”

He sighed. “Yeah… it’s working.”

“Please, just go with me.”

“Well come on, Pressman, you’re a lawyer.” He challenged with eyebrows raised. “Present your case.”

She straightened. “Well, first, you’d get a free trip to Hawaii.”

“Plane tickets?”

“If they’re not included, I’ll pay for yours.”

“Hmm, that’s more like it.” He was being so smug and she wanted to smack him. But she didn’t think that would help her convince him. “Still not quite there though.”

“Fine. I’ll pay for your coffee for two weeks.”

“Two months.” He countered.

“Three weeks.”

“One month.”

“Deal.” She said with a winning grin. 

He put his hand out and she shook it. She leaned closer and whispered with a grin, her hand still holding his. “I never said anything about it being good coffee.”

Harry took in a breath. “You wouldn’t dare.”

She smirked. “Get ready, Bingham to drink the cheapest coffee available. ” She released his hand to pull back and laugh. “You sure you went to Harvard Law?”

“Top of my class, in fact.” He stated leaning back in his chair, resuming to his natural state of casual arrogance.

“Yeah…” She lifted herself from his desk and started walking away. “They all say that.” 

They didn’t talk about it again for months. Harry and Allie just fell back into their normal routine of agonizing over filing subpoenas and constant late nights at the office. 

Allie never complained though. She was working at one of the top firms in New York City, and it felt even more satisfying because she’d _earned_ this. She had slaved over her Harvard law degree and sacrificed a lot of her sanity. But she had made it. 

And she wasn’t going to waste her chance by slacking off. 

Harry hadn’t always been as helpful to her as he was now. He had been in this firm for two years when she’d gotten there and in the beginning he had made sure to make her life hell. He allocated all the menial tasks to her and she had despised him with all her being. She had never understood why he was so hard on her. 

Until one day when they were forced to work together on a pro bono case. 

They were going over previous cases together in the firm library trying to find a precedent to prevent their case from getting dismissed. By then it was already 2 a.m and Allie was on her fifth cup of coffee. So, she was running on an unusually short fuse. 

When he gave one of the usual snide remarks, Allie couldn’t help but snap. “God, Harry! Could you try not being a dick to me for like one second?” He shut up quickly and pulled back in shock. She had never raised her tone at him like this before. She’d always shoot back with a come back but never at this severity. 

She seemed to be on a roll and kept going. “I don’t know what I’ve ever done to you to make you hate me this much but can you just get over it so we can focus on the work, please?”

He was still staring at her like she’d lit herself on fire or something. She broke his stare with an eye roll and turned back to her work. 

“Pressman.”

“Whaaat?” She whined. It was late and she just wanted to finish this. 

“No. I mean…” He sighed and messed with his hair. Allie frowned. If she didn’t know any better she’d think she was making him nervous. “Pressman. Your last name. That’s why I’ve been hard on you.”

She blinked. He wasn’t making any sense. “What?”

“You’re related to Cassandra Pressman, right?”

Her face fell. She wasn’t ever going to escape her sister’s shadow, was she? “How did you know that?”

He leaned back in his chair. “I went to Yale with her for my bachelor’s. We kinda hated each other, actually.” He wouldn’t meet her eyes and he kept wringing his hands. “We had this stupid rivalry, kept fighting for the #1 spot in the class.” He sighed. “I got #2.”

She had known him for months and she’d never seen him like this. There was none of his usual swagger. He was being more real and himself than she’d ever thought he could be. “I guess I wasn’t completely over that so I took it out on you. And I’m sorry.”

She didn’t know what to say. Being second-best to Cassandra was something she understood very well. That’s what her whole life had been like. But she loved her sister a lot. And even though she sometimes hated the fact that she was in her shadow, she could never _hate_ Cassandra for it. Cassandra couldn’t help being so spectacular, it was in her DNA. 

She looked down at her papers and started sorting them to have something to do with her hands. “It’s okay. Let’s just forget about it and move past it, shall we?”

He nodded and that was that. They’d been friends ever since. 

She would even go as far as to call him her best friend (apart from her sister, of course). 

But there were still some things she’d rather do with her other friends. For example, picking the dress to wear to the wedding. 

She had asked Elle for help. She was a paralegal at the firm and they’d quickly bonded over how male associates could be dicks. 

Elle was helping her find something to wear. She told her she wanted something classy that would also still make her feel hot.

Allie was in the stalls trying on some outfits while Elle waited on the bench outside, flipping through a magazine. 

“So let me get this straight. Harry is going as your date?”

Allie was struggling to get her zipper up so it took her a second before replying. “Yeah.”

“And he’s going as your fake boyfriend.”

Allie huffed as she tugged at her dress, checking herself out in the mirror. Her dress was pale pink and ended just around the knees. “Yeah, he is.”

She opened the curtain and let Elle judge her outfit. She looked her up and down and shook her head. “No, that’s not it. It’s totally fading you out.”

Allie turned and examined herself in the mirror again. “Yeah, you’re right.” She stepped back in the stall and closed the curtain to try the next one.

“But you’re not _actually_ dating?” Elle asked. 

“Yup” Allie called out, stepping out of her dress and hanging it up. 

“That’s stupid.” Elle was never one to beat around the bush. It’s what Allie liked most about her. “Maybe you guys should cut the bullshit and just call it a date like you both want it to be.”

This dress was a wrap around, so it was way easier to put on. She adjusted it and took a second to check herself out in the mirror. This one was a light blue, slightly off shoulder and it dipped down into a low V to show off some cleavage. 

“Elle, we’re just friends and he's doing me a favor. That's all.” She yelled as she examined the dress’ slit. Allie opened the curtain and stepped out of the stall. 

Elle lowered her magazine and raised an eyebrow. “I think that might change after he sees you in this dress like _wow._”

Allie smiled. “Really? It’s that good?”

Elle nodded. “Yeah, it is. Classy and will turn several heads. It’s perfect. What do you think?”

Allie turned to see herself in the mirror. She played with the dress and smiled. “Yeah, this is it.”

Elle smiled. “Great!”

Allie stepped back into the stall to get changed into her normal clothes. 

She thought of what Elle had said about her and Harry. Maybe this trip _would _be a little weird for them. Maybe it _would_ change what they had between them. 

She hoped not; he was too important to her for that to happen. 


	2. to all the boys who haven't loved me before

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry and Allie get settled in the resort.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter title comes from "To all the boys i've loved before" with a little twist hehe.

“That’s the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard.” 

Allie stuttered, not looking at the dresser where her phone was poised. She was packing for Will’s wedding that was two days away. She’d finally decided to tell Cassandra the full scope of her plan. It was going just as badly as she thought it would. 

“Okay, it can’t be the _stupidest._” She could see her sister’s disapproval on her screen. 

_Damn it._ She shouldn’t have gone with Facetime. 

“Like remember that time I thought I could pull off bangs too? Now, _that_ was stupid.” 

“Nope. This has officially beaten the 8th grade Bangs Debacle. It gets extra points by the fact that it mostly centers around Harry.”

She lowered the dress she was folding to level a stare at her. “I told you not to do that anymore.”

Cassandra rolled her eyes and gave a sigh of defeat. “Fine. I’ll play nice.”

“Thank you.”

It took a while before Cassandra got over the idea of Allie and Harry being friends. Allie guessed it felt even weirder by the fact that it felt like two worlds colliding: Cassandra’s college world and her family life. 

Allie hadn’t really gotten around to telling her that Harry worked at her firm, let alone that they were actually friends when Cassandra had come to visit her in the office as a surprise. It hadn’t gotten over too well. 

She eventually got both of them to stop going after each other so often. She had scolded them and asked them to just _tolerate_ each other for her sake. And luckily, they agreed. 

Allie thought they secretly were becoming kind of friends. Not that either of them would ever admit it though.

“Okay, Allie. It’s not just that it’s with Harry that makes the plan stupid. It’s the fact that you guys haven’t really talked about how it’s all going to happen.”

Allie frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that this wedding is in two days and you haven’t talked about any boundaries. This is a risky game you guys are playing and I don’t want you getting hurt.”

Something moved in the background and soon enough, Gordie came onto the screen. “Hi, Allie. How are you doing?”

Allie smiled and waved back. “Hi, Gordie. I’m doing pretty good. How about you?”

He grinned at her. His beard had grown a lot in the past couple months. “Good.” He pulled back and rested a hand on Cassandra’s shoulder. “I was going to make some tea, do you want some?”

She smiled up at him. “That would be great, thank you.”

Allie went to look into her closet for more dresses and by the time she got back to lay them out on her bed, Gordie had already left.

“I’m guessing he hasn’t proposed yet?”

Cassandra looked over her shoulder one last time before facing her sister. “Nope, _nada_.”

Cassandra and Gordie had met in Washington D.C. Cassandra had moved there to work in the White House at an incredible job that would get her right on track to being the first female President. Gordie was working on a brilliant new invention with Bean that was so complicated that it went over Allie’s head every time they tried to explain it to her. 

Cassandra and Gordie had been dating for three years. They had moved in together after one. And a month ago, Cassandra had found a box and a ring hidden in his sock drawer. 

“He’s gonna get around to it eventually.” Allie assured her. “He’s probably just waiting for the right moment.”

Cassandra nodded. “Yeah, you’re right.”

Sensing her sister’s distress, Allie quickly changed the subject. “So what boundaries are you talking about?”

Cassandra startled and lifted her chin from her hand. “Oh, right.” She reverted back to regular, proper Cassandra. “I mean like amount of stuff you’re willing to do and also background stories on how you two got together.”

“Okay.” Allie was done with her dresses and was now picking out shoes. “And what do you think I should do?”

“Well for starters, I think you guys should keep the PDA to a minimum. Being too touchy feely can make things real too fast.”

“You think I shouldn’t kiss him at all?” Allie shoved her sandals in her bag, trying to get them to fit. “You know we’re trying to be believable right? We can’t do that if we show no signs of being an actual couple.”

“No, I’m not saying don’t kiss him at all. Maybe… set like a timer or something.”

“A timer?” Allie repeated unamused, raising her eyebrows. 

“I don’t mean like an actual timer.” Cassandra corrected. “I meant a sort of time limit. Like no kisses that last longer than five seconds. That way you guys don’t get too carried away.”

“Okay.” Allie took a second to consider it. “A time limit. Yeah, I like that.”

Gordie came back with Cassandra’s tea and she smiled at him with a thanks. 

“Any other genius ideas?”

Cassandra blew on her tea. ”Yes. Make sure to get _two_ beds. Accidental cuddling won’t do anything but blur the lines.”

“God, I hadn’t even thought of that.”

Cassandra smirked and shrugged. “That’s what I'm here for.”

Allie laughed. “Thanks for the advice, oh Wise one.”

Cassandra smiled for a second before getting serious again. She wrapped her hands around her mug and inched closer to the camera. “But the most important thing Al, is that if you do feel something that’s unusual or if you see yourself wanting _more_: you need to talk to him about it.”

Allie felt every hint of humor drain out from her. “What?”

“I know you had a rough time with Will, and that it took a while to put the pieces back together. So I want you to be careful. And I don’t want you to fuck up your friendship with him because you refuse to talk about it.”

Allie couldn’t bring herself to look at her sister. “You make it sound like we’re heading to war or something.” She forced a casual laugh. But it sounded meek even to her ears. “It’s _just a wedding_.”

“I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

Allie looked at her packed bag and stood there for a second. This conversation was pointless, it was never going to happen. Her and Harry were _just friends_ and that’s that. She wasn’t going to feel anything or get hurt because there was nothing to get hurt over. 

And bringing back her experience with Will as an example was just too painful and unnecessary. 

“I’m going to be fine.” She shut her bag a little too violently and started struggling with the zipper. “Nothing’s going to happen.”

Cassandra hesitated. She looked like she wanted to say something else. “Just… call me if it does?”

Allie halted her fight with the zipper to turn back to her sister. “I will. I promise.”

Cassandra smiled. “Good.”

Allie heard something go on in the background and Cassandra turned around. She couldn’t see Gordie but she could hear him. “Your doctor appointment is in twenty minutes, Cass.”

She nodded. “Okay. I’ll start getting ready in a second.”

Allie heard some shuffling as Gordie stepped back out of the room. “Doctor’s appointment? Anything serious?”

She knew how charged that question was, given Cassandra’s history and all. 

Cassandra just shook her head. “Nothing to worry about, it’s just a check up. Making sure the heart is still working fine and all.”

Allie nodded. “Text me how it goes?”

Cassandra smiled. “I will. Now, I have to go.”

“Okay.” Allie stepped closer to her dresser and reached for her phone. “I love you.”

“I love you too sis.” 

They both said bye and Allie ended the call.

She turned back to her suitcase and sighed. It was going to be a long trip. 

But it was going to be fine as long as she followed those simple rules. It should be easy… right?

* * *

“Why are you staring at me?” Harry asked without even looking up from his book. 

Allie quickly averted her eyes to the plane window. “I’m not staring at you.”

“Yeah, you are.” He closed his book and turned to face her. “What’s up?”

Allie had promised herself she would talk to Harry about what she’d talked to Cassandra while they were on the plane. There were 30 minutes left to their flight and she still hadn't brought herself to talk to him about it. 

She guessed this was it.

“I just wanted to talk to you to get our stories straight about our relationship, you know?”

He nodded. His face offered no sign of discomfort like she’d predicted. “Okay. What did you have in mind?”

“Well, um…” She combed her hair back with her fingers and forced herself to look into his eyes. She was going to be professional about this. The moment she started to believe this was awkward was the moment it would start being awkward. “I was thinking we’d tell people we met at Pearson Hardman, obviously. That we were friends for a couple months when we were working late on a case and you kissed me. And–”

“Wait, wait.” He interrupted her, leaning his temple against this seat to face her better. “You think _I_ would make the first move?”

She nodded. 

“No. That’s so unbelievable. I’m irresistible. You wouldn’t have made it a week without throwing yourself at me.” He boasted with a smirk. 

Allie laughed. “Okay. _Sure_, Bingham.” She patted his arm. “Let me remind you that you are _not_ irresistible because I did _not,_ in fact, make a move on you.”

“But you thought about it.” He assumed. He was still sporting that arrogant smirk.

She was flustered for a couple seconds before regaining her stance. “Yeah, well, I’m sure you did too. But that’s besides the point. We both know you’d be the first one to make a move because you’re the most reckless out of the both of us.”

That wiped the grin off his face immediately. “Hey! You’re calling me reckless?”

She raised her eyebrows and asked him sarcastically. “Who was the one again who lied to their client and almost got fired over it?”

He opened his mouth to retort back but he said nothing. He pulled a face before conceding. “_Fine_. You have a point.”

“Good.” She smiled triumphantly. “Now, let’s move on. So we’ve been dating for a year, and yeah, yeah we’re in love. What I wanted to talk to you about though, is a Five Second Rule.”

He frowned. “Like you can eat food off the ground if it’s been less than five seconds kind of rule?”

“No! I meant like… no kisses that last longer than five seconds. That way there’s no risk of us getting too carried away.”

Harry didn’t say anything for a second. He just bit his lip as he thought about it. “Okay. Deal.”

Allie smiled. Maybe this was going to be easier than she thought. “Good. I just don’t want to mess up our friendship, you know?”

He gave her a small smile. “Yeah, I do. But it won’t.”

She couldn’t help but bring up her finger. “Pinky promise?”

He laughed. “How old are you again?” He mocked her but still linked his pinky to hers. “I pinky promise.”

“Good.” She unlinked their fingers and felt a huge weight lift off her shoulders. That was one rule settled. All she had to do was make sure to not break the other ones.

* * *

“What do you mean there’s only one bed?”

Allie felt bad for her tone, truly she did. This girl at the hotel check-in had no fault in this situation but Allie was mad and this girl was the one who was supposed to be fixing this and _she wasn’t._

“I mean that your room has a double bed, not two twin beds.”

Allie sighed, bringing her hand up her face. “And there’s no way we can switch rooms?”

The girl shook her head. “I’m sorry, ma’am. But the hotel is fully booked. I’m afraid it’s just not possible.”

Allie closed her eyes and sighed. She couldn’t believe that she was going to break one of Cassandra’s rules not even five minutes in the resort. So much for thinking this was going to be easy.

She looked over her shoulder to look at Harry. He was sitting on one of the couch chairs with all their bags, playing a game on his phone instead of helping. Allie scolded him in her mind. _My fake boyfriend is such a gentleman._

She turned back to the receptionist. “You know what? It’s fine. Can we have two keys, please?”

She finished up their check-in and was about to call Harry when she heard her own name being called.

She turned around to see a tiny brunette rushing over to her with her suitcases. 

“Becca!” Allie smiled immediately and ran to meet her halfway.

Becca let go of her bags to reach up and hug her. Allie hugged her tight as she laughed. She’d missed her so much. Becca was her roommate at Stanford for all four years of her undergrad. They still talked constantly, but Allie hadn’t seen her in almost a year and God had she missed her. 

Allie pulled back to look at her. “How are you? How have you been?” 

Becca smiled. “I’ve been good. My exhibition has been going surprisingly well.”

“Surprisingly? Are you kidding? We all knew it would go amazing.”

“Thanks Al. But it’s been stressful, I’m just happy to be able to relax with my girls.”

“Speaking of your girls, where’s baby Eden?” Allie asked looking around for the little brunette. She’d been one of the first people to see her when she was born: this little bundle of joy just like her mother. Allie had cried when Becca asked her to be godmother alongside Sam who was the godfather, she had never felt so honored. 

“Baby?” Becca gave a derisive laugh. “She’s no baby anymore. That girl is four and an absolute menace. Gwen is coming up with her soon.”

“She can’t be that bad.” Allie found it hard to believe that the girl who clapped and laughed when Allie blew bubbles had become ‘a menace’. 

Becca smirked knowingly. “You’ll see.” She rested a hand on Allie’s arm. “But what about you? How are you doing?”

Becca was one of the people that knew first hand how complicated Allie’s relationship with Will was. She was there through it all, and had been Allie’s shoulder to cry on several times. She knew how hard this would be for her.

Allie forced a smiled. “I’m good. I’m here with my boyfriend, actually.”

Becca’s jaw dropped. “Boyfriend?” She smacked her arm playfully. “Where is he and why don’t I know anything about him?”

“He’s right over there.” Allie looked back to wave at Harry, who was standing now, leaning on the bags. He waved back at them with a half-smile.

“_He’s_ your boyfriend?” Becca asked in disbelief. “Go Allie!”

“Becca!”

“What? I’m gay not dead. And that is one gorgeous man.” Becca was being very obvious and she kept looking him up and down. Allie knew Harry was hot and he looked even better in the light blue button down he was wearing. Yet, Becca’s reaction made her even more convinced that picking Harry to be her fake boyfriend was the right decision. “I’ve seen him on your instagram a couple times but I didn’t think that much of it. I can’t believe I didn’t see it. I have to go introduce myself.”

Allie was so distracted by Becca’s rambling that it took her a second to register Becca’s last sentence. “Wait, what?” Becca was already moving towards Harry before Allie could react. 

He lowered his phone and stopped leaning on the suitcases. Becca reached him and put her hand out which he shook. “Hi, I’m Becca. I was Allie’s roommate in college.”

Harry gave her a grin Allie knew he used when he wanted to be especially charming. “I’m Harry. Allie’s boyfriend.”

“Well, it’s really nice to meet you.” Becca said with a smile. Her eyes sparkled in a way that told Allie that she was already approving of him. Damn Harry and his magic grin. At least it was being put to some good use here.

“You too. You know, I was actually hoping to get some more Allie stories while I was here. I’m pretty sure there’s a lot she’s purposefully keeping from me and I’m sure you know a lot of them.”

Becca laughed and nodded. She wrapped her arm around Allie’s waist to pull her close. “I do have plenty. Allie, here was quite the wild one when she was younger.”

Allie protested. “I was not!” Harry’s eyes were bright and his grin was even wider now. The bastard was enjoying this. She looked down at Becca. “And you’re not gonna tell any stories to him whatsoever or I’ll give your daughter ice cream for dinner.”

Becca shrugged. “Fine! I won’t tell any Wild Allie stories.” She said with a wink at Harry, who laughed in response.

“AUNT ALLIE!”

Allie turned just in time to get attacked by a tiny human. She gave an ‘oof’ and looked down to see a brunette head clinging to her legs. “Who’s this adorable creature?” Eden giggled as Allie leaned down to pick her up. 

“Look at you!” Allie gasped and Eden giggled some more. “You’re all grown up now!” Eden was wearing a purple dress that matched the color of her hair clip. She had long brown hair just like her mother. Allie adjusted Eden on her hip. “Did you miss me?”

Eden nodded, shy all of a sudden. 

“Well, are you gonna give me a hug?” Allie asked.

Eden wrapped her arms around Allie’s neck and buried her head in her shoulder. Allie felt her insides melt, she’d missed this girl so much. Becca was the first one out of her friends to have a baby. For Allie it was so weird that one of her friends was going to be actually responsible for another human being. But then Eden was born and Allie loved her so much that she couldn’t imagine a world without her in it. 

She could see Gwen approaching the group with more suitcases and Allie smiled at her over Eden’s mass of hair. “Hey, Gwen.”

Gwen smiled and said hello back. She looked at Harry curiously and Allie took to herself to introduce them. “Gwen, this is my boyfriend, Harry. Harry, this is Becca’s wife, Gwen. And this–” Allie bounced Eden and she giggled again. “–is their daughter, Eden.” 

Harry smiled at her softly. “Hi Eden.” She was sucking on her thumb and wouldn’t look him in the eye. 

Becca combed a hand through her daughters hair. “This shyness will pass real fast you’ll see. Soon you won’t get her to stop talking.”

“Have you checked in, yet?” Gwen asked Becca.

“No, not yet.” Becca admitted. “I got distracted talking to them.” She turned to Harry and Allie apologetically. “I’m sorry we should probably go do that.”

Allie shook her head. “Don’t apologize.” She lowered Eden to the floor. “We’ll catch you later.”

“Of course.” Gwen said and held out a hand to her daughter. “Come on, Eden.”

Eden took Gwen’s hand and waved goodbye to Allie. She smiled warmly and waved back.

“Bye, guys.” Becca said.

Harry and Allie both echoed out their goodbyes. They turned to each other and Allie flashed out their room keys. “Look what I got.”

He closed his eyes in relief. “Yes!!” 

They made their way to the elevators with their suitcases. As they waited for the elevators, Allie remembered their room situation. “So… um I think I should warn you about our room.”

The elevator opened and they got inside. Harry looked at her, confused. “What’s wrong with our room?”

She pushed the elevator button. “Well, I tried getting us twin beds but the receptionist said all the rooms were full. So… we’re stuck sharing a bed.”

“Oh.” He wasn’t looking at her but instead staring at the screen showing the floors they were on. “It’s okay. We can manage, right? We’ve certainly survived worse.” He turned to her with a grin. 

She smiled back at him. “Yeah, we have. Remember that time Louis yelled at us for 20 minutes?”

He fired up immediately. “It wasn’t even our fault! It was Shoe who fucked up and put the blame on us.”

“I don’t think my ears have ever recovered.” Allie said solemnly. 

“I don’t think mine did either.”

They both looked at each other and broke out laughing at the memory. 

“See?” Harry said mid-laughter. “If we can get through that then we can handle anything.”

“You’re right. It’s nothing a pillow barrier can’t solve.”

The elevator dinged and they scrambled to get to their room. Harry looked around, examining the hotel. “God, how much money do they have?”

“I’m pretty sure this is mostly coming from the bride.” Allie said as she swiped at the lock with the room key. She pushed open their hotel door and couldn’t help the “Wow” that escaped her lips. 

Everything was either in white or in different shades of turquoise. The wallpaper was a picture of the ocean, with lights catching in the water. There was fuzzy blue blankets folded neatly on the white comforter of the bed. The phones were golden clamshells, and curtains opened to a wide varanda. It all made for such a gorgeous sea-themed aesthetic that Allie was speechless for a second. 

“Nice room.” Harry said casually. But Allie could tell by the way his eyes scanned every inch of it that he was just as impressed as she was. 

“Yeah.” Allie pushed her suitcase to the edge of the room. She went out onto the balcony to check out the view and Harry trailed out after her. The resort was _enormous_. The hotel building was shaped like a U, facing the ocean. There were almost 5 levels with a different type of pool in each one that led lower and lower and closer to the beach. She could see some water slides that led into the pools that she knew Eden would freak out over. There were even those by-the-pool bars, where you could order a drink without having to leave the water. This resort already looked huge and Allie knew they hadn’t seen most of it: like the golf courses and the tennis courts. Kelly really must come from a lot of money. 

“I don’t know about you but I was thinking about checking out one of those pools right now.” Allie admitted. 

“Do you think they’d let me on one of those water slides?”

He grinned as she gave him a light smack in the arm. She muttered an “idiot” under her breath and restrained a smile, making her way back inside. 

Allie opened her suitcase to get a bikini and her favorite sundress. She went into the bathroom to get changed and Harry then did the same. She put her sunglasses on and shouldered her purse (that was now filled with things she needed for the pool: sunscreen, her book, etc). “Ready?”

Harry had changed into shorts and a T- shirt and was wearing sunglasses as well. He nodded in response and they both made their way down to one of the pools. 

Allie was trying to find somewhere to set down their bags when someone rested their hands on her shoulders. She jumped and spun around to see who had scared her to death. 

“Grizz!”

“Hey, munchkin.” Grizz was soaking wet and only in his swim shorts but Allie didn’t care as he leaned down to wrap her in a hug. She laughed and clung on to him tight as he lifted her off the ground. 

“I missed you so much.” She said into his shoulder. 

“I missed you too.” He set her back down to her feet and she took a step back, still smiling up at him. 

“How are you?” Allie asked. 

He grinned and nodded, his man-bun bouncing slightly. “I’m good. You know, life’s the same as always.”

“Yeah.” Allie said. Grizz looked from her to Harry standing next to her. “Who’s this?”

“Oh.” Allie was so caught up in seeing Grizz again she’d completely forgotten Harry was there. She recovered quickly and wrapped an arm around his waist, leaning against him. She pushed down any thoughts about how natural and _easy_ this felt. “This is my boyfriend, Harry. Harry this is Grizz. We went to college together and he’s also dating my cousin Sam.”

“She introduced us, actually.” Grizz amended. “She knew we’d hit it off and she was right.”

“Yeah, she’s quite the matchmaker.” Harry wrapped his arm around her waist to pull her even closer. Her grinned down at her for a second, beaming, before looking back at Grizz “You should see her at the firm, trying to set people up left and right.”

“Oh, you two work together?” Grizz asked in surprise. 

Allie nodded. Harry was so close to her that she could smell his cologne and it was leaving her a little too breathless. “Yeah, this one over here,” she cocked her head to motion at Harry, “actually just made partner.”

It was true, he did. Jessica had called him in her office to give him the news. Harry had run right over to Allie’s desk, hugged her and spun her around in excitement. 

“Congratulations.” Grizz said and Harry thanked him. He looked over his shoulder and turned back to them. “You know we have a certain area reserved. All the gang is there, I’m sure we have a couple chairs open for you guys if you’d want to join us.”

“We’d love to!” Allie replied and Grizz led the way. They were almost there when Harry took her hand and intertwined their fingers. She felt like something was shooting up her arm at the contact. Almost like fireworks under her skin. 

They got to a section of beach chairs right by the pool. Allie’s heart warmed as she saw her friends all gathered there. They all looked up at her and called her name with smiles. 

Luke was the first one to hug her. He had a beard now and Allie couldn’t resist making fun of him for it. 

Allie gasped as Helena came in to view. “Helena! Look at you!” 

Helena gave a bashful smile and patted her pregnant belly. “I know, I know. I’m so big now.”

“And you’re positively glowing.” Allie complimented her before giving her a hug. “How far along are you?”

“6 months.” She answered. 

Allie smiled and looked at her friend’s eyes with genuine amazement. “This is incredible, Helena.”

Helena smiled back. “Thanks Allie.”

Allie stepped away from Helena to see Sam sign: “Hi stranger.”

She laughed and went over there to give him a hug. She stepped back to sign to him. “I missed you.” 

He smiled and responded. “I missed you too.” He looked over her shoulder and signed. “Who’s the hot one?”

Allie looked back to see Harry already grinning and laughing with Luke and Grizz. God, she was grateful for that charming son of a bitch. She was also very grateful that Harry didn’t know ASL. 

She turned back to Sam. “My boyfriend.”

Sam raised his eyebrows but didn’t get a chance to say anything else before something zoomed past. 

“EDEN, GET BACK HERE!” Becca yelled as she ran after her daughter. The little terror was giggling while she wrecked havoc in her blue Elsa swimsuit. Becca scooped up her daughter in one move and held her against her hip. 

Eden squirmed under her grip. “Mommy, let me goooooooo!”

But Becca didn’t let go. She held her tighter and her daughter looked away, refusing to meet her eyes. “You do _not _run from me and your Mom like that ever again unless we let you go. Do you understand?”

Eden still wasn’t looking at her, pursing her lips in silent protest. Becca stared her down until Eden finally nodded. 

Gwen jogged up to the two of them, looking quite out of breath. She plopped a hat down on her daughter’s head. “You _can’t _take this hat off, okay?”

Eden nodded quickly and squirmed again. “Can I go nooww?” She whined. 

Becca sighed and set Eden down. The moment the girl’s feet touched the ground she took off again. 

“DON’T GO INTO THE DEEP END WITHOUT SUPERVISION–Oh, what’s the point?” Becca called after her daughter before giving up. 

Gwen collapsed on one of beach chairs and dropped her bag on the floor. “Yeah, yeah. You laugh but soon enough that’ll be you. I’m looking at you, Holbrook.”

Luke’s grin was wiped off his face immediately and he snuck a look at his wife’s pregnant belly. He sat down next to Helena and put an arm around her shoulders. “Our baby isn’t gonna be like that.”

Becca laughed. “Yeah, we said the same thing about our little devil spawn over there.”

They all looked to where Becca had pointed. Eden had walked right in front of a little redhead in pigtails, cutting the girl in the waterslide line. Eden looked completely unapologetic over it. 

“That’s our girl.” Becca sighed and sat down next to Gwen. “You think you’re gonna have control over how your child is gonna turn out, but you don’t. Eden loves to cause trouble and we’ve tried everything, we’re gonna _keep_ trying everything, but that simply won’t change who she is.”

They both looked really tired and drained. Gwen broke out of her trance and assured the group. “But we love her to death, of course.”

Becca quickly nodded in agreement. “Of course.”

“Well, I don’t know about you guys but I could really use a drink.” Allie confessed.

Gwen raised a hand. “Same.”

“Yes, please.” Becca added. 

Helena looked down at her stomach with a bit of resentment. “I _ really_ wish I could.”

“We’ll get you something non-alcoholic.” Allie assured Helena before looking over at Harry, his eyes widened slightly with a clear message: _don’t leave me alone._ She moved towards him and kissed him on the cheek (she’d kissed him on the cheek before and she just wasn’t bold enough to kiss him on the lips. Not yet). 

She comforted him in a low voice. “You’ll be _fine._”

She could see the reluctance in his brown eyes but she pulled back anyways. Allie started walking backwards, extending a hand to her friends. 

“I’ll get you a gin and tonic, okay?” She offered to Harry before spinning around and running right into somebody. 

She let out an ‘oof’ and rested her hands on that person’s chest to balance herself. 

“Careful, Al. Do you want to kill the groom before the wedding?” 

She looked up to see Will smiling down at her. He was so close to her and this angle was so familiar that a memory flashed through her head. They were close like this, and he was looking down at her just like that, but that time he hadn’t been smiling at all. 

_You can’t just do that, you know? Change everything. _

The memory of his harsh words echoed in her head. She pushed that thought deep down inside her and forced a smile on her face. “Will!”

“Well, come here.” He leaned down to give her a hug. He wasn’t holding her tight but she felt like she was about to suffocate. He pulled back and she felt like she could breathe again. 

Will looked her up and down with a grin that made her heart ache. “Well, you look amazing as always.”

Almost as if by reflex, Allie looked down at the ground and smiled bashfully. Her insides feeling warm as she muttered a “thanks.” 

And just like that, no matter how many years had gone by, Allie was reduced to the stuttering mess of a girl smitten over a guy who didn’t give her the time of day. 

“Hi, it’s so nice to meet you. I’m Kelly.” 

Allie hadn’t even noticed the girl standing next to Will until she’d spoken. Allie had desperately hoped that Kelly wouldn’t be as pretty in real life as she looked like in pictures: she was disappointed. 

Kelly looked like a movie star with the big sunglasses pushing her hair back and the Greek goddess-like sundress she had on. 

Allie had grown to love her body, but looking at Kelly made her feel like she was as feminine and attractive as a toy Troll. 

She shook Kelly’s hand. “I’m Allie. It’s nice to meet you too.”

Allie felt a strong hand settle herself on her hip just before she thought she was going to faint. She leaned into Harry for some balance as he introduced himself. 

“Hi, I’m Harry. Allie’s boyfriend.”

He gave both of them his most charming grin, but Allie saw something his eyes harden as he shook Will’s hand. 

“Boyfriend?” Will asked. There was no jealousy in his tone just disbelief. It was like he couldn’t believe that little Allie would ever get a boyfriend of her own. Allie looked at the ground, feeling like absolute shit. 

Harry looked livid and he opened his mouth, looking like he was about to retort when luckily, someone interrupted. 

“Oh since I have both of you here.” Becca interjected, joining the group. “I was wondering if you guys were able to join us on our Adventure Day tomorrow. We’re gonna go hiking and find these beautiful waterfalls. I already signed you two up as well, by the way.” She added looking at Harry and Allie. “All of us from the Stanford group are going and it would be so great if the groom and bride would join us!” 

Will and Kelly shared a look. Kelly smiled and shrugged. “I don’t see why not! We’d love to.”

Allie wanted to strangle Becca. She just signed her up for a day straight from hell with the people she least wanted to see and her fake boyfriend. 

This was _not_ going to go well. 


	3. just go with it

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry and Allie go on a hike with everyone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Full disclosure, I hate this chapter. It is not worthy of the insane amount of time that I spent on it. I'm sorry that after all these months without an update that you guys get _this_ as an update. 
> 
> I have recently fallen down a The Society hole again, and am now feeling pretty inspired to write for hallie. And the quarantine has left me with plenty of time to write so hopefully I'll be able to update more often!
> 
> The title of this chapter comes from the movie "Just Go With It". This movie is actually the one that inspired the location for this fic and it also happens to about fake-dating as well lmao. 
> 
> Anyways, once again I'm sorry it took so long to update.

Allie had secured a boundary in their bed with as many pillows as she could manage. They had been stacked so high that Allie couldn’t even see the man sleeping beside her. She thought it would be more than enough.

And yet, when her eyes fluttered open at the sound of her alarm the only thing she could see was Harry’s shoulder. She stiffened. All the drowsiness in her body leaving her immediately. 

_ What the fuck? _

She tried not to move too much as she slowly lifted her head to look around. The pillow barrier looked completely destroyed to her right. It’s as if she just rolled over it while asleep and right into his arms.

Harry made some noises at her shifting and tightened his arms around her, pulling her back into him. She scrunched up her face and held back a groan. 

_ She had broken another rule. _

She could hear Cassandra’s voice reprimanding her in her head. 

The alarm kept blaring and she tried reaching over, still stuck in Harry’s grasp. She finally got to it but her moves were too abrupt and Harry stirred. She felt his entire body stiffen as he also came to the realization that they were  _ cuddling.  _

She turned around to face him. His brown eyes met hers and they shared a look of awkward alarm. He quickly let go of her and she rolled out of his arms immediately. 

Allie combed her fingers through her hair and started swiping through her phone.  _ Please don’t say anything. Please don’t say anything.  _

Harry cleared his throat and stretched. When his voice rang out, Allie braced herself for the awkwardness. 

“What time is it?”

Allie looked over her shoulder to blink at him in shock. She quickly recovered and checked the time on her phone. “7:30.”

Harry groaned and buried his face back into his pillow. “Why are we waking up at this ungodly hour? I thought this was supposed to be a vacation.”

She felt the pressure in her chest ooze out of her slowly. Thank God. They had both come to an unspoken agreement of ‘we’re not talking about it.’ 

She got up from the bed and stretched as well. “Blame Becca. We have to meet her at 8 for that hike she signed us up for.”

He gave a huff and moved up to lean on his elbows. “See that’s the thing? I don’t do hikes. If I wanted to walk for hours without purpose I’d just buy a treadmill.”

Allie grabbed her pillow to smack him with it. “We’re going. It’s gonna absolutely suck…but we’re still going.”

They eventually made their way downstairs. Allie in shorts and a loose top. Harry with his sunglasses that make him look awfully pretentious–Allie was sure to tell him so. They were the last ones to get there. 

Everyone looked extremely tired and unhappy to be there except for Becca, who was glowing with excitement. 

Becca rarely got this excited except when it was something she was really into, like photography. Unfortunately the stuff she was ‘really into’ wasn’t exactly loved by most. 

Allie forced a smile and waved at the group. They mostly grunted their replies. Becca skipped over to give her a hug. “Thank you for coming! I’m so glad you’re here. It’ll be like a little Stanford reunion.”

She looked over Becca’s shoulders to scan the group. “Is Helena not coming?”

Becca shook her head. “She said she thinks it would be too straining for the baby and all. So she’s just gonna stay here and we’ll meet up with her later.”

_ Lucky bitch.  _ “Okay, sounds good.”

“Great! Then the van is already waiting outside.” Becca turned around and led the group out of the lobby.

Will held the door open for Kelly and smiled as his fiancée walked by.

Allie was about to trail after her when Will let the door close, smacking her straight in the face. She stumbled back slightly and closed her eyes.  _ Of course, he slammed the door on my fucking face.  _

She felt someone rest their hand on her shoulder and opened her eyes to see Harry looking down at her with scrunched eyebrows. He lifted her chin slightly with his other hand to search her face.

“Uhhhh what are you doing?”

“Just checking to make sure nothing’s hurt.” He dropped his hand from under her chin. He nodded, satisfied. “Nope. Your nose looks just as ugly as it did before.”

Allie smacked him on the side of the head and he shamelessly grinned at her. “Shut up!”

She knew what he was doing–trying to distract her from the fact that Will was a dick–and she was thankful.

She linked their arms and started pulling him along. “Come on, idiot. We can’t keep them waiting.”

They somehow all managed to squeeze into the van. Eden had to sit on Sam’s lap but it didn’t seem like he minded. Eden was playing a clapping game with Grizz, Sam watching them with a big smile.

Allie was squeezed in between Harry and Luke. Harry seemed to be making conversation with Clark–what those two had in common, Allie would never know–so she turned to face Luke.

“I see you’re Helena-less today.”

Luke laughed. “Yeah.” He looked around to make sure Becca wasn’t listening and when he was satisfied she wasn’t–she was leaning close to Gwen as the two talked in low voices–he added on. “Some of the perks of being pregnant: you get to say you’re too tired to do things you hate.”

Allie laughed at that. “Couldn’t she have bailed you out too?”

“Oh no. The only thing Helena would like more than a day by the pool is a day by the pool  _ by herself _ .” Luke shrugged. “Can’t really blame her. When the baby comes along I don’t think either of us will be able to get a lot of alone time. And she deserves some peace.”

Allie smiled. She’d known Helena and Luke for the longest time and she couldn’t think of two people who respected and knew each other as well as they did. She knew from the start that they were going to make it in the long run. “You’re a really good husband, you know that? And you’ll make an even more amazing Dad.”

Luke grinned bashfully and looked down at his lap before meeting her eyes again awkwardly. “Thanks, Al.”

The conversation ended as the van pulled to a stop. Luke offered a hand to help Allie off the van; he was probably still feeling warm from her compliment.

“Hey everyone! My name is Gretchen and I’ll be your guide today.”

The girl was dressed head to toe in green camouflage. She was wearing a hat and her red hair was tied up in a ponytail.

Allie thought that Gretchen looked more like a tourist than her. It wasn’t exactly a reassuring thought.

Gretchen turned around to lead them through a small pathway and they all followed her hesitantly. 

They were swallowed by the dense jungle and Allie could practically hear all the mosquitoes being alerted to her presence. After slapping her arm to kill a mosquito for the fifth time, Grizz turned around and tossed her some bug spray.

“Thanks.” She said before dowsing herself in the spray. 

Grizz laughed, trailing back to stop beside her. “You planning on finishing the whole can?” He teased with a smirk.

She looked up at him to throw him a glare that made him laugh again, and she resumed her spraying. She handed the can back to him with a sweet smile. “Here.”

They both started walking again. The path was only wide enough to fit two people walking side by side. Allie looked over her shoulder to check in on Harry and held back a laugh.

The poor boy looked absolutely miserable. 

She slowed down to walk beside him. “Well, you look like you’re having fun.”

He pulled a face at her. “Haha, so funny.” He adjusted his backpack and huffed. “I told you. I don’t do hikes.”

“Well, technically you’re doing one right now.”

“Don’t remind me.” He grumbled. “I feel gross and I’m already counting the seconds until it’s over.”

“Aren’t we all?” 

Her eyes roamed to where Kelly and Will trailed together up ahead. Kelly laughed at something Will said and Allie refrained from groaning. Jesus Christ, even in the midst of this tropical hellhole the girl was looking flawless.

Harry followed her gaze and found what she was grimacing at. He sighed. “I would hold your hand or do something coupley but we’re both way too gross to do something like that right now, sorry.”

Her scowl was replaced with a laugh and she pushed Harry’s shoulder. “Excuse you. You might be gross but I remain pristine.”

He looked her up and down skeptically. “Sure.”

She gave an indignant gasp and he started smirking. She rolled her eyes. “Idiot.”

They walked for longer than Allie would consider acceptable for a hike. The first one to break was Eden. She started complaining about her feet when Grizz snatched her up. The little girl stopped whining as she rode on his back, taking advantage of her spot and braiding Grizz’s hair.

Allie didn’t have the same reprieve. She felt like she was sweating buckets by the time Becca said there was only 5 minutes before their stop. Allie wanted to cry of relief when she saw the path opening up ahead. 

She couldn’t stop her jaw from dropping when she stepped into the clearing and saw the sight before her. They were fully faced with a roaring waterfall. It was several meters high, the water making some kind of misty rainbow that made it all seem serenic. The water looked crystal blue, almost too light to be considered real. 

Becca lowered her camera to smile at all of them. “I told you guys it was worth it.”

Even after all the struggle, Allie had to agree. This place was breathtaking.

Gretchen informed them they had a couple hours before they were supposed to head back. The boys all looked at each other and not before long they had all taken off their shirts and jumped into the water. 

Eden squealed and rushed to join them but Gwen grabbed her before she got too far. “Not so fast. We have to reapply your sunscreen.”

Becca searched through her backpack and brought out sunscreen with little starfish drawn on it. She tossed it to Gwen, who made quick work of putting it on her daughter’s shoulders. Eden jumped up and down, looking at the water anxiously. 

Allie was about to take off her clothes and jump in when Kelly got to it first. Will who was already in the water turned to her and gave her the biggest smile. He extended a hand towards her and professed to her almost as if they were in a Shakesperian novel. “Come to me, my gorgeous bride.”

Kelly laughed as she inched closer to the water. “Stop! You’re so corny!”

“I can’t help it.” His smile turned lopsided. “You make me want to be as corny as can be.”

Kelly failed to contain her smile and jumped into her water. Will quickly pulled her into his arms and whispered something in her ear.

Allie dropped her hands from her clothes. There was no way she was going to jump in now after Ms. Perfection showed all  _ that _ . 

Becca gently nudged her with her shoulder. “You coming in?”

Allie hesitated and Becca gave her a knowing look. She sifted through her backpack. “You know you’re beautiful Allie, you have nothing to worry about and besides–” She brought out a small camera. “–I brought my GoPro to take pictures underwater.”

Allie smiled and gave a mock sigh of defeat. “Fine. I guess I have to now.”

She took off her clothes, and jumped in the water almost immediately, barely leaving any time for them to judge her in her simple dark blue bikini. 

She rose up from the water, pushing her hair back. The water was crystal clear and she whipped her legs back and forth, marvelling at how beautiful it was. She looked around to find Harry and found him staring at her kind of slack-jawed. 

“What?” She touched her face self-consciously. “Do I have something on my face?”

He snapped out of whatever trance he was in to shake his head. “No, it’s nothing.”

Before she knew it he swam towards her and pulled her close. Allie gulped at the feeling of having his hands at her hips but she let her hands drift to wrap themselves around his neck.

“Hi.” He sort of whispered with a small smile.

She gave a little laugh and whispered back to him. “Hi.”

Harry’s eyes left her face to look at something over her shoulder. “Gotta make us look like a happy couple for Prince Charming over there right?”

Allie felt something tighten in her stomach and she couldn’t really understand why. “Right.”

He shook his head, his jaw tight as he kept looking over her shoulder at what he assumed was Will and Kelly. “I don’t know what you were worried about, you’re so far out of his league–”   


“ _ Harry– _ ”

“No, okay.” He finally locked eyes with her again. “I’m not just saying this to make you feel better, it’s the truth. You’re way more beautiful than she is and he’s a fucking idiot for not seeing that.”

Harry was looking at her with eyes that were honest and soft and Allie didn’t know how to deal with it so she looked away. “Thanks.”

She wasn’t looking at him but she could hear the smirk in his voice as he said his next sentence. “I even had a crush on you when you just started working at Pearson Hardman.”

Her eyes snapped back to his face as she gave an incredulous laugh. “Bullshit! You hated me for months.”   


“Okay, you’re right. But I said when you  _ just  _ got to Pearson Hardman. It was before I knew you were Cassandra’s sister.”

She squinted her eyes at him. He laughed at her suspicion and she felt it rumble against her, reminding her how close they actually were. “I’m serious! You were gathered with all the other new associates while Louis gave his speech. I was in the back when I saw you and you were wearing this black dress–”

Allie felt her heart skip a beat; he wasn’t making this up. She knew exactly what dress he was talking about; she had spent weeks agonizing over what she should wear for her first day. And the fact that he remembered… 

“And I remember thinking ‘Damn. She’s hot as fuck.’”

All seriousness drained from her body as she laughed. After a couple seconds, he was laughing with her too. “That was the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me.” She said sarcastically.

His smug grin softened for a second, so fast that she thought she might have imagined it. “Anytime.” 

Allie’s arms tightened around him as she rested her forehead against his shoulder. She just let herself relax against him, revelling in the cool feel of the water around her.

“Um… Allie?”

She didn’t lift her head from his shoulder. “Mhm?”

“Everyone around us is making out right now.”

Now  _ that  _ got her attention. Her head snapped back up and she looked around them. Sure enough, he was right: everyone was having their passionate moments with their loved ones.

Sam and Grizz were laying by the rocks, everything up their waists above water as they kissed softly. Gwen and Becca were sharing a moment while Luke, Clark and Jason were playing with Eden a couple feet away. Of course, the-married-couple-to-be was being the most gross out of them all, making out so ardently it looked like they were eating each other’s faces. Allie pulled a face in disgust.  _ Ew.  _

She turned back to face Harry and was surprised at how close their faces were. Had she clung to him tighter without realizing it? She gulped as she kept his gaze. “I-I um… we should probably kiss as well. I mean…like everyone’s doing it so it would be unrealistic if we didn’t.”

He smirked. “Is that how you usually make a move, Pressman? I have to say I’m not feeling very wooed.”

She rolled her eyes. She felt her traitorous cheeks warm up revealing how embarrassed she truly was. “Shut up. You know that’s not–I mean it’s not what I–oh just, _ shut up _ .”

“Why don’t you shut me up with a kiss?”

“You think that was pretty smooth, don’t you?”

“I mean it was better than yours.”

“You know I wasn’t actually hitting on you, right? I’m just trying to be believable with our fake relationship.”

“Sure, Allie.”

“I’m going to actually kill you.”

“Oh, I thought you wanted to kiss me? You gotta make up your mind there, Al.”

“ _ Oh my God. _ ”

“I can’t really kiss you if I’m dead. I mean, I could but that would be really disturbing–”

Allie cut off his rambling by pressing her lips against his. She just wanted him to  _ shut up.  _ He stilled against her, obviously caught off guard by her actions despite all his jokes.

_ No kisses that last longer than five seconds. That way there’s no risk of us getting too carried away. _

Five seconds. 

_ One. _

His shock finally faded and he started to kiss her back. His fingers tightening around her hips.

_ Two.  _

Allie’s hands came up to tug at his hair.

_ Three. _

Harry angled his head and kissed her harder. Something intense coming alive at the bottom of her stomach. 

_ Four _ .

The water made it easy for Allie’s legs to lift and wrap themselves around Harry’s waist. His hands came up her back, pulling her closer against him until they were completely flush against each other.

_ Five. _

A part of Allie was screaming at her to pull away but another (and louder) part kept telling her how  _ right  _ this all felt. It felt easy to kiss Harry like this, to hold on to him like they weren’t just friends.

_ Six. _

Allie didn’t pull away. Harry didn’t move to do so either. He just kept kissing her and Allie kept letting him.

_ SPLASH. _

A wave of water came over them and they jumped apart hastily. Allie shook her head, snapping out of her daze. A brown little head of hair popped up above the water. 

Allie sighed with a hesitant smile. She reached over to grab a giggling Eden and the girl looked up at her with a mischievous smile. “Did I scare ya?”   
Allie nodded and adjusted the goggles on Eden’s face. “You terrified me.”

Eden gave a triumphant laugh and wormed herself out of Allie’s grasp, calling after her moms.

Allie didn’t know if she should thank or yell at the child for the interruption.

_ Well, one thing was for sure _ , Allie thought to herself as she snuck a glance at Harry,  _ if she hadn’t interrupted things would’ve gotten _ ** _ a lot_ ** _ more complicated. _

Allie cleared her throat and motioned with her thumb to the shore. “I’m just going to get out of the water for a while.”

Harry nodded quickly. “Okay.”

She hesitated, wondering if she should say something else, but then decided against it and started to swim away.

_ What the fuck just happened? _

_ _ She tried to reason with herself. It was just a good kiss. That was why her heart was beating so fast and she felt like she had a thousand butterflies living in her stomach.

_ God,  _ she always assumed that Harry would be a good kisser but she never imagined he would be this good. 

That was it. Harry was just a really good kisser. A really, really good kisser. A really, really,  _ really _ good kisser.

She pulled herself on to the rock ledge and laid flat on the space beside Grizz. She closed her eyes and just let herself enjoy the way the sun warmed her cold, wet skin.

Cassandra had been right. This was the stupidest idea ever.

“Hey, Allie!”

Allie opened her eyes and sat up to lean on her elbows. Becca was waving her over with the hand not holding her GoPro. “Do you want to come take some pictures?”

Allie smiled and nodded, welcome for the distraction. She dived back in the water. God, it was so clear and  _ blue.  _ She was still amazed by it.

She spent the rest of the time with Becca, Gwen and Eden, making silly faces underwater. She heard Harry’s loud laugh–the one he gave when he was really happy–and turned to see him standing underneath the crashing waterfall, Luke, Clark and Jason grinning beside him. She smiled fondly at them, glad that he was having fun as well.

Eventually, their time at this little corner of heaven came to a close and they all had to make their way back into the dense jungle. They were all exhausted and they trekked back in a comfortable silence. Thankfully, the hike was much shorter and they were back in the van in only 30 minutes. 

The drive back lulled Allie to sleep, and she dozed off on Harry’s shoulder. Before she knew it, his hand was on her knee prodding her awake. She sucked in a sharp breath and rubbed her eyes lazily. They were the only ones left in the van.

He was looking at her with a look she recognized. It was the  _ I fucked up but please don’t be mad _ look. She groaned softly, still feeling a little hazy from her nap. “What did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything.”

“Harry.”

“Okay, so I was talking to Luke–” He stepped out of the van and held a hand out to her to help her down. She took it. “–and he mentioned how long it had been since he played Fugitive–”

“I don’t like where this is going.”

“–and I might’ve said how much I love playing Fugitive and–”   


“Oh no.”

“–and I might’ve gotten everyone to agree to play tonight after dinner.” 

Allie groaned and rubbed her face as they walked past the lobby towards the elevators. “Harry, you didn’t.”

“I did.”

“Why would you do that? You know how bad you get when you play Fugitive.”

The last time they played was in their company retreat. It was supposed to be a “bonding activity” but it actually turned into a competitive mess. I mean, put a bunch of cutthroat lawyers in a game like Fugitive, what would you expect?

Harry had been the worst of them all. He had tackled one of their coworkers and it had not ended well.

“We’re trying to impress these people, Harry. It’s not gonna work if you show them all what a competitive monster you really are by tackling them all.”

“I’m not a competitive monster!”

She pressed the button to call the elevator and raised an eyebrow at him. 

He sighed. “Okay, fine. I am.”

The elevator opened and she made her way inside. “Guess we just have to make sure we win then.”

Harry turned to her in surprise and she grinned at him. She shrugged. “I guess, I’m just a competitive monster too.”

* * *

Allie hadn’t expected how serious this game of Fugitive would turn out to be. 

Kelly apparently had talked to the owner of the hotel–an old family friend apparently–and talked them into letting them use the massive golf course for the game. They even let them borrow a few golf carts for the cops. 

Apparently word had gotten around, and now a lot of other people who were here for the wedding had also opted to play. Allie barely recognized half of them.

They split into two teams: cops and fugitives.

Harry had all but lunged for one of the golf carts, grinning wildly. 

Allie smiled and made her way over to the other seat. “Nice ride.”

He stuck out his tongue at her.

Will and Kelly settled on the cart next to them. Kelly gave her a wave and a smile which Allie hesitantly returned.

Helena, who had opted not to play, sounded a loud buzzer announcing the beginning of the three minutes the fugitives had as a head start.

Harry tapped his finger against the steering wheel, anxious to get out. Allie grinned but spoke nothing of it.

The buzzer sounded once more and Harry hit the gas immediately. The golf cart rushed forward and Allie laughed, holding on to her seat tightly.

She was on her phone messaging her friends as a look out. “Take a right, Becca said she saw some fugitives heading for the lake.”

“On it.” Harry spun the wheel quickly and the car gave a sharp turn that made Allie clench her teeth before laughing maniacally.

They spotted the fugitive–a man that looked about twenty years old– running across a sand trap and Harry pulled the brakes on the cart. Allie jumped out running up the hill after the fugitive.

She heard Harry calling her name behind her but she ignored him. Adrenaline pumped through her veins as she chased him. They had reached the top of the hill. She reached out to grab him, her fingers almost grazing his shirt…but then she tripped on her own feet and her body lurched forward. She fell to the ground, bringing the fugitive down with her.

“ALLIE!”

They both rolled down the hill, her arms scraping against the grass. She finally came to a stop at the bottom of the hill, her eyes closed. 

She felt a hand at her hip and heard a familiar voice whisper. “Allie? Allie, you okay?”

Allie groaned and moved to rest on her back. And then she started laughing.

“Allie?”

She ignored Harry and kept laughing.  _ Of course, _ she fucking tripped and rolled down a hill. So graceful.

Allie sat up and opened her eyes. Harry was staring down at her bemusedly, concern still lacing his features.  She looked over her shoulder to see the fugitive was scrambling up to his feet.

“What are you doing? We have fugitives to catch!” She pushed against Harry’s chest and got on her feet, chasing after the fugitive.

She caught up to him and led her–now prisoner–to the back of her golf cart. Harry was still sitting on the ground looking at her like she was crazy.  He broke from his reverie with a grin. He rushed to the driver's seat and soon enough they were off to drop off their “prison” in “jail.”

When the game ended, they found out that they managed to be the cops that caught the most fugitives. They high-fived with grins, Allie feeling especially giddy with the fact that she had  _ crushed  _ Will.

“I mean did you see the look on his face?”

“I did.”

Harry and Allie were walking back to their room. The sun had already set, and the cobblestone pathway was lit with lanterns hung up on the branches.

“You know, you can never say I’m the competitive one of us again. You were crazy out there.”

Allie sighed. “Yeah, I guess we both should be banned from playing it.”

Harry shook his head. “Nah. It’s too fun for that.”

“Yeah, you’re right. It’s pretty fun.” Allie folded her arms and winced. 

Harry looked over at her with concern. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I just scraped myself up.”

He stopped walking and reached for her arms. He traced the scrapes with a surprising gentleness that made Allie’s stomach do weird things again.

They still hadn’t talked about the kiss. But what did they even have to talk about? They kissed. It was amazing. They got a little carried away but nothing too bad.  _ Right? _

_ But the most important thing Al, is that if you do feel something that’s unusual or if you see yourself wanting more: you need to talk to him about it. _

She gave a slight laugh and shoved Cassandra’s voice out of her head. “So much for looking pretty for the wedding.”

Harry shook his head. His eyes still trained on her arms. “It’ll take a lot more than a couple scrapes and bruises to make you not pretty, Allie.”

Allie gulped and his eyes raised to meet hers. His thumb started brushing against the arm.

_ You can’t just do that, you know? Change everything. _

She pulled her arms from his grasp and took a step back. “Come on, we should get going.”

He pursed his lips and nodded. He didn’t say another word as he followed her back to their room, leaving Allie to her thoughts.

She was being stupid. She and Harry were  _ friends _ . Just friends. Allie had found out long ago that friends and boyfriends were meant to live in seperate boxes. She had made the mistake of mixing those up before and she would  _ not  _ let herself do it again. 

Harry was her  _ fake  _ boyfriend. Which meant he technically still was in the “friends” box. She couldn’t let herself get confused. 

Harry was a friend.  _ That was it. _


	4. 10 things I hate about you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day of the rehearsal dinner, Allie gets roped into a day with the girls and the bride while Harry spends time with the groom and his friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What is this? An update in a timely manner? Shocking, I know. But what can I say, this chapter was just 1000x easier to write than the previous one. I literally just sat down and wrote all of this in one day. I think that's what we call "quarantine productivity."
> 
> Anyways, I nailed down the outline of the story and there will be one more chapter after this, and then maybe another if I decide to do an epilogue but we'll see. 
> 
> Chapter title comes from the romcom classic "10 things I hate about you."

“Marco.”

“Marcooo.” 

“MARCO! Eden, you can’t just ignore me. You have to say ‘polo.’”

Allie heard a giggle a little bit away. “Polo.” Eden had practically whispered the word.

Allie shook her head and waded her way through the water, her eyes still closed.

The details of how Harry and Allie had gotten roped into baby sitting Eden this morning were still a little hazy to her to be completely honest. They had run into Becca and Gwen at breakfast, and they had told her how Eden was desperate to go to the pool. Allie remembered mentioning how her and Harry were planning on going to the pool as well, and before she knew it, her friends had all but dumped their child in their care and ran off for some alone time.

Now that she thought about, she couldn’t remember specifically volunteering for the job. Oh well, she didn’t mind. It’s not often that she got to spend time with her goddaughter and she would enjoy it as much as she could.

“Marco.”

“Polo.”

“Marco.”

“Polo.”

This time, Eden’s voice was close and Allie lunged for her before she could swim away. She grabbed the girl and snapped her eyes open to find Eden squirming in her grasp. “Got you. Now you’re it.”

Eden pouted. “I don’t wanna be Marco. Being Marco sucks.”

“I can be Marco.”

Allie turned towards the voice to see Harry making his way back to the pool–he’d gotten out to get some more towels. He smirked and ran towards the pool, bringing up his legs into a cannonball.

Allie and Eden screamed, Allie pulling the girl against her to semi-protect her from the wave of water. Harry came up for air with a grin. 

“You idiot! This is a public pool.”

He shrugged and raised a hand to mess up his hair. “Worth it. But I can be Marco.” 

Eden jumped from Allie’s arms and started swimming away. “Harry’s Marco. Close your eyes! Close your eyes!”

Harry smirked but complied, his hands already reaching out before him.

Allie started to swim away as silently as she could.

“Marco."

“Polo.” Allie and Eden responded in unison (Eden said it considerably lower.)

Harry turned towards Allie, and she continued to back away keeping her eyes on Harry.

“Marco.”

“Polo.”

“Fish out of water.”   


“There’s no one,” Allie replied.

“Marco.”

“Polo.”

Allie’s back hit the wall and she started to panic. Harry was only a couple feet away and was wading his way towards her with conviction. Eden was a long while away, swimming happily as she saw Harry target a player that wasn’t her.

“Marco.”

“Polo.” Allie lowered her voice, Harry was about to reach her. He started smirking, knowing that he almost had her.

“Marco.”

Allie grinned and tried going along the wall making a minimal amount of noise. “Polo.”

“Marco.”

Allie hit a corner, and silently cursed. She pulled herself on to the ledge, feeling like every drop of water trickling down was as loud as a gunshot. She let her legs still rest in the water, afraid that pulling them out would cause even more noise.

“Marco.”   


Allie pursed her lips, not being able to help herself from cheating. He was just right  _ there _ . If she replied right now that would practically be a death sentence.

Unfortunately, Harry moved forward anyways and his hands came to rest on her knees. His eyes snapped open and Allie grinned down at him. “You cheated!”

Allie laughed, not responding to his accusation. Harry smirked and his eyes glinted with something mischievous. Allie had only a second to be alarmed before he pulled her back into the water with the grasp he had on her legs. Harry tugged a sputtering-and-still-laughing-Allie to him, her back to his chest. 

She tried to pry herself away but his arm kept a tight hold on her, while he tickled her sides with the other.

“Say it, say you cheated.”

Allie shook her head, laughing so hard that she couldn’t breathe right. “Never.”

“You see, Eden. Cheating is bad and we can’t let your Aunt Allie get away with it.”

He kept tickling her, and Allie’s laughter started to hurt her stomach. “Eden, save me!”

The little girl shrugged. “But you did cheat, Aunt Allie.”

_ Traitor. _

“Ha! Admit it. You cheated.”

Allie shook her head and tried to remove his hand from her sides.

“Say it. I’m not gonna stop until you do.”

“Okay, fine! I cheated.”

His hand stopped his tickling and just came to rest at her hip instead. She leaned back at him, eyes closed and breathing deeply as she tried to recollect herself. “That was cruel.” She whispered.

“Nah, it was necessary.”

She felt a shiver go up her spine as he said that. His mouth was right beside her ear when he whispered. It was then that Allie realized how close his arm was holding her to him and how they were practically flush against each other.

She cleared her throat and stepped out of his grasp, his arm dropping unceremoniously. She didn’t look back at him but instead grabbed Eden. “You didn’t even try to save me, you little traitor.”   


Eden did not look the least bit sorry. “You told me plenty of times that cheating is bad.”   
  
“Yeah and you keep doing it anyways.”   


Eden shrugged. “I like to win.”

Allie’s jaw dropped. This girl really was a little devil.

“Allie!”

She turned to face whoever had called her name, and saw Kelly making her way towards her. She was wearing a beautiful purple sundress and big movie star sunglasses. 

Allie still didn’t know how to place this girl. She wanted to hate her and yes, resentment always did settle in her stomach when she looked at Kelly. She was a reminder that Will would never want Allie the way she wanted him. 

But still, Allie didn’t know the girl well enough to hate her for any rational reason. All she had to cling to was  _ he chose you, not me  _ which in all honesty wasn’t the most mature reason of them all.

“I was looking for you, actually.” Kelly raised her sunglasses to the top of her head and gave Allie a warm smile. Eden jumped out of Allie’s arms and swam away happily. “You see, me and a bunch of the girls were going to go to the Spa this afternoon. They gave me a special bridal package and they’re letting me bring a couple friends. Do you want to come?”   


Allie hesitated. They really weren’t close enough for this and why in the hell would Kelly think to invite  _ her? _

Kelly seemed to sense her hesitation and continued. “It should be really fun. We’re going to get some massages, go to the sauna and there’s even a rooftop pool that they say has an amazing view of the sunset. We can all relax before the rehearsal dinner tonight. Becca, Helena and Gwen are also coming.”

Allie looked over Kelly’s face and the girl  _ seemed _ genuine. Did she know about her past with Will? Well, there wasn’t much of a past to know but still. Why did Kelly seem so eager for Allie to come?

Allie held back a sigh and nodded. “I’d love to come.”

Kelly’s smile widened. “Great! I’ll have Becca send you all the information. Oh, and Harry, Will is having a poker night tonight and I know he’d really like you to come.”

To any stranger, Harry looked like a picture of calm nonchalance. But Allie knew him like the back of her hand, and she could tell he was uncomfortable by the slight tension in his jaw. “I don’t know if that would be the best–”

Kelly interrupted him. “No, really he’d like you to come. It’s like a mini-bachelor party, but with no strippers obviously. All the girls will be with me at the spa and I know that he’ll want to spend one last night with all of the guys just having fun like I’ll be. There’s no need to feel uncomfortable at all.”

Allie highly doubted that.

But they both knew that he couldn’t say no without sounding rude. Harry pursed his lips and nodded. “Okay, sure.”

Kelly smiled once again. “Good. I’ll see you guys later.”

“Yeah, see you.”

Allie’s eyes followed Kelly as she left the pool area and sighed. She turned to Harry who looked about as miserable as she felt.

“You owe me a lifetime of candy for the things I’m putting myself through on this trip,” Harry said. 

Allie pushed her hair back. “Technically, the agreement was already set in stone before you came here. So you have no rights to make any more demands.”

He raised his eyebrows, unamused. “That was before I knew I would have to spend an afternoon in hell playing poker with strangers.”

Allie grimaced. “I know. I’m sorry. How about we go see if they’ll let us go on that water slide with Eden and after that I’ll buy you a banana split to make up for it?”   


“Deal.”

* * *

Allie fidgeted with the sleeves of her bathrobe and walked slowly to meet Becca where she was standing with Helena.

They just had their massages and Allie had to admit it made her feel  _ a lot _ better. This entire trip was not good for her nerves and she had a lot of tense muscles that needed some relaxing.

“Hey.” She spoke with a low voice. Speaking normally just felt  _ wrong _ here.

“Hey.” Becca and Helena said in unison. Helena took a sip from her cucumber water.

“Where’s Gwen?”

“Oh, she’s still in her massage.”

“Oh, okay. How was your massage?” Allie asked.

“Amazing.” Helena answered. “I swear I feel like my back is going to give out every other second with this pregnancy.”

“Yeah, I remember that feeling,” Becca added. “It was the worst.”

“Hey, guys how are you liking it so far?” Kelly asked, joining the group.

“It’s been really great, Kelly. Thanks for inviting us.” Becca said with a smile.

Kelly waved her off. “Of course! I love having you guys here. So? What are you guys thinking of getting next.”

“I was thinking of going to the sauna,” Allie answered.

“Yeah, I wish I could go but I don’t think it would be the best idea with the baby and all.” Helena rolled her eyes. “But oh well, what can you do? I was thinking of getting a facial instead.”

“Ooooh that sounds great. I think I’ll get one too,” Becca said eagerly.

Kelly turned to Allie. “I was thinking about going to the sauna, too. I’d love to join you.”

Um… what was happening? Had she just gotten herself roped in on one-on-one time with Kelly? 

_ Fuck. _

“Sure.”

Kelly smiled like that answer had made her whole day. Why was this girl so determined to be friends with Allie? She didn’t get it.

They both made their way towards the sauna, Kelly making conversation the entire time. Allie responded to her questions, not rude but not exactly friendly either.

They hung up their robes by the door and entered the sauna in just their bikinis.

The sauna was already filled with vapor and Allie felt a refreshing sensation course through her lungs when she took a deep breath. There were a couple other strangers in the sauna, sitting and talking quietly between themselves. Allie took a seat a bit farther from them and Kelly took the seat beside her.

They sat in silence for a couple minutes and Allie closed her eyes, letting herself enjoy the feeling of the vapor against her skin.

“Will told me a lot about you, you know?”

Allie opened one tentatively to sneak a peek at Kelly. She was looking at Allie biting her lip, almost nervous. Did she know that Allie had been in love with him? That couldn’t be what this was about. Or could it?

Allie opened her eyes but didn’t turn to face her.

“Yeah?” Allie didn’t want to say much in case she incriminated herself.

Kelly nodded. “Yeah. When he talks about Stanford almost all of his stories mention you in some shape and form. It seemed like you guys were really close.” 

Allie hesitated, not really knowing what to say. She settled for a half-truth. “We were.”

“I guess that’s why…I wanted to be your friend so bad.”

“Wait,  _ what? _ ” Allie had not been expecting that. 

Kelly shrugged. She looked pretty awkward which is not something that Allie thought Kelly was capable of feeling. “You and Will were so close and it seemed like you guys really knew each other. Will and I haven’t known each other for all that long and sometimes I just worry that we’ll never have that  _ connection  _ that comes when you’re friends with someone for that long.”

_ Oh dear God. _ Kelly was here telling Allie all of her fears in her relationship without even realizing that Allie had been deeply in love with her fiancée. 

It made Kelly seem more…real. She was just a girl, who had fallen in love with a guy and wanted to be with him forever. It wasn’t Kelly’s fault that Allie was in love with him too. 

Allie felt all her resentment for Kelly dissipate completely. 

“Look, I’m not going to lie to you and say me and Will weren’t close, we were. And I think you’re wrong about never having that connection. That connection is built over time and I think when it comes for you, it’ll be ten times stronger than a connection built just out of friendship.” 

“Just remember that he chose to marry you.”  _ And not me.  _ Allie couldn’t help complete in her head. “That’s all that matters.”

Kelly nodded and then smiled, something sweeter and more real than Allie had seen her show before. “Thank you, Allie. I can see why Will would want to be friends with you.”

Allie gave an awkward laugh. “Thanks.”

“Well, how about you? How’s your relationship with Harry going?” She amended with a smile, “You seem really happy together.”

She nodded. “We are. He’s… he’s my best friend.” 

Now  _ that  _ wasn’t a lie. Harry really was her best friend.

Kelly gently nudged her shoulder against Allie’s. “Maybe soon we’ll be having a conversation like this right before your wedding.”   


Allie forced a laugh while feeling very much like she was going to die. “Yeah, maybe.”

They changed the subject and kept talking about other things. Allie found that Kelly really was a great person. She was kind, smart and  _ of course,  _ also a doctor (like seriously? She saved lives for a living. How could she get any more perfect?) 

By the time they left the sauna, Allie couldn’t help but think of her and Kelly as kind of friends. She didn’t hate the thought.

They met up with the rest of the group at the pool on the roof. The water was warm and there were bright colorful lights making the water bright purple, lighting up the space as the sun started to set. 

Allie was talking with Becca, watching the sun set against the beach beyond them. The view really was stunning.

“So how was it with Kelly?” Becca asked.

Allie gave a look around to see if Kelly was nearby (she wasn’t. She was talking with her bridesmaids at the other side of the pool) and Becca scoffed. “Relax. She can’t hear us. So?”

Allie shrugged and kept her eyes trained on the orange sky. “It was fine.”

“Just fine?”

Allie sighed. “Okay, it was great. She’s an incredible person and I can see why Will wants to marry her.”

Allie could feel Becca’s stare but she didn’t comment on it. 

“You know Al, I was  _ there _ when you were in love with Will. I was there when you pined over him for years and I was also there when he broke your heart. And I gotta say it, even though I was there through it all…I couldn’t see it.” 

Allie turned her head to face Becca in surprise. Becca had never given a direct opinion on her and Will. She had only ever listened and comforted her, but she had never said what she thought on the subject. 

“You and Will together just didn’t…click for me. Everything with you guys just felt heavy.” She turned to meet Allie’s eyes, a small smile playing on her lips. “You and Harry, though, I can see. He makes you so happy, Al, I can _see_ _it_. He makes things light for you and after everything you’ve been through you deserve someone who makes life feel light and fun. I’m really glad you found someone like him.”

Allie gulped, her guilt at lying to her friend weighing like a rock in her stomach. It was crazy how wrong Becca was about this. Yes, Harry did make her happy but as a  _ friend _ . It was all just pretend. That’s all it ever would be.

Allie tried giving Becca her best smile and nodded. “I’m glad I found him too.”

Becca smiled back at her and seemed to believe her lies. After a couple moments, she turned away to face the sunset again. “I wonder how the boys’ poker night is going.”

“Yeah.” Allie sighed and lied through her teeth. “I'm sure it’s going alright.”

* * *

Harry always knew he was amazing at poker. He had wicked luck and was always able to bluff perfectly. He enjoyed it,  _ he loved it.  _ Poker was something sacred to him and that’s why it was all that much worse that he was playing it with one of the few people he despised most in the world.

Harry had hated Will even before he set eyes on him. Everything that Allie had ever told him about him just reaffirmed that Harry could never like him. Harry hated those types of guys: the ones who would act all high and mighty and be like “i’m a nice guy” when in fact they were just as bad as the rest of them. 

You see, Harry knew he had been an asshole for most of his life. Was he ashamed of it? Yes. Had he changed and grown out of it? Yes. But even during that time Harry never pretended he was better than he was, he knew what he was doing. 

What Will did was so much worse. He treated everyone around him like shit and yet still tried to come off as a “good guy.” Harry was having none of it.

And the thing that made Harry hate Will the most, that made his fire burn through his veins when he looked at him, was the fact that Will had hurt Allie. That was an unforgivable crime in Harry’s mind.

Thankfully, they weren’t alone and Harry had plenty of other people to talk to. There were people he already knew like Luke, Grizz, Sam, Jason, and Clark and then there were two other guys who he had just been introduced to–a mousy ginger called Dewey and a guy called Mickey.

Grizz started distributing the cards. “Okay. Cincinnati, no blind, everybody ante.”

Harry looked at his cards and kept a straight face. He raised his eyes to find Will, who was sitting right across from him, trying to gouge his reaction. 

Harry broke eye contact and took a sip of his drink.  _ He fucking hated that dude. _

Almost everyone in the table knew ASL, and signed as they spoke. Sam, who was sitting to Harry’s left, taught him to do basic phrases like “I fold.” 

“Five-card draw. Jacks or better. Nothing wild. Everybody Ante,” Harry said when it was his turn to deal.

They all tossed a chip on the table.

“Alright, check.” Clark said.

“Check.” Grizz repeated, eyes still trained on his cards.

“I’m in for 50 cents,” Will said, tossing more chips on the table.

“Call.” Dewey added and tossed a couple of chips as well.

“I’m in.” Mickey said.

“I’ll see your 50 cents,” Harry tossed a chip at the table before reaching for more, “and I raise you 5 dollars.”

“I’m out.” Sam signed, tossing his cards on the table.

“Me too.” Luke said.

Everyone else also folded, except for Will who stared Harry down for a moment. Will moved his chips to the center of table keeping eye-contact the entire time. “I’m in.”

Harry raised an eyebrow, keeping his own hatred at bay. “How many do you want?”

“One.” Will tossed the card across the table and Harry passed him one from the pile.

“Dealer takes two.” Harry took two cards. “What do you bet?”

“I bet two dollars.” Will tossed more chips on the table.

“I see your 2 and I raise you 5.” 

“I see your 5 and I raise you 20.”

Everyone froze, completely caught off guard at the amount of money Will just put on the table. 

Harry felt his jaw clench and the familiar drumming of anger through his veins. God, what he would do to wipe that smirk off Will’s face.

But Harry was unmoved, placing on a perfect poker face that he had learned to master.“I see your 20, and I raise you 25.”

To Will’s credit, he didn’t balk. “Okay, I’m calling your 25. What do you got?”

Harry laid his cards down on the table face up. “Full house.”

Will pursed his lips and tossed his cards face down. “You got me.”

Harry grinned and the boys all around started whooping, clapping Harry on the back. But he didn’t turn around to thank them. He just kept his eyes on Will, watching the boy stare at him with an animosity that let Harry  _ know _ that the hatred was mutual.

Well…fuck him. Will had lost and not only at poker…but he also lost the girl. Harry wouldn’t make the same mistake.

* * *

Harry was halfway ready by the time Allie got back to the room. 

“Hey.” She smiled at him, still feeling soft around the edges from all the spa treatments.

“Hey.” 

“How was poker?”

He shrugged, but the glint of victory in his eyes betrayed his act of nonchalance. “Won a bit of money.”   


“Yeah? So it wasn’t a total loss then?”   


“You could say that. How about you? How was the spa?”

Allie shrugged as well, making her way towards the bathroom. “It was fine. I talked to Kelly a lot.” She turned the shower on and quickly slipped inside.

“Really?” Harry’s voice was muffled slightly by the closed bathroom door. 

“Yeah. She’s actually really nice.”

“That’s good, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it is.”

Allie managed to shower, dry her hair and do her make up in record time. Harry sat on his bed throughout it all, his tie still untied and hanging around his neck.

“Hey, how do I look?”   
  
Harry finally looked up from his phone, his face shifting as he looked her over. She was wearing a loose summer dress that still made her look somewhat classy. Her hair was up in a ponytail and her lips were the same bright red as her dress.

He smiled at her softly. “You look beautiful.”

“Thanks.” She smiled at her feet, feeling shy all of a sudden. “Hey, stand up. I can tie that for you.”

He got up from the bed and she could feel his eyes on her as she tied his tie. She smoothed it over and looked up at him. God, he was standing close to her and he smelled _ so good. _ His cologne would be the death of her. And his eyes…there was something dark and intense that Allie had never seen before.

She took a step back. “There you go.”

“Thanks.” He shoved his phone in his pocket. “You ready to go?”

“Mhm.”

They made their way to the rehearsal dinner in a comfortable silence. Truthfully, Allie had never understood the point of a rehearsal dinner. It just seemed like a way for the wedding to last twice as long.

The venue for the dinner was beautiful, of course. It was a small clearing in the middle of the forest. Fairy lights were strung up together with vines to cover them like a ceiling. There was a small space in the center which Allie guessed would be the dance floor when people were done eating.

Allie and Harry found their assigned seats and found that (thankfully) they were together with the rest of the Stanford group. The bride and the groom were at another table near the front with their family.

The dinner was actually a lot of fun. Allie reminisced with her friends and recounted stories that had them all laughing until it hurt. Harry’s arm had made his way to the back of her chair–one of his annoying habits–and Allie got overwhelmed by how good he smelled again.  _ Jesus Christ, where did he get that cologne? _

Eventually, people started joining the dance floor and Allie couldn’t help looking out eagerly. She loved to dance. She smiled when she recognized the song, one of her old favorites called “I Melt With You” by Modern English.

“Do you wanna dance?”

She turned to Harry. She shouldn’t have been so surprised that he had asked her to dance. He was her date after all. “Sure.”

He took her hand and they made their way to the dance floor. The song was fast and happy, and Allie just felt herself feel loose and… light. She laughed when Harry spun her around and brought her back to him. 

“How did you learn how to dance, so well?”

He shrugged, a grin on his face. “My mom forced me to take classes when I was younger. She said I should learn how to dance to be able to sweep the right girl off her feet when the time came.”   
  
“Did it work?”

“I don’t know. You tell me.”

He spun her around and dipped her before she could answer and Allie laughed loudly. They danced like that to a couple more songs when the song changed to something considerably more slow. 

Before Allie could say anything, Harry had already pulled her closer with the hold on her hand and his other settled at her hip. Allie smiled and let her other hand settle at his shoulder. She closed her eyes, her nose brushing his cheekbone as they swayed.

“Hey, I think I know this song,” She whispered.

“Yeah?” 

Allie couldn’t help the shiver that coursed through her spine when he spoke low in her ear.

“Yeah. I might’ve heard it in Big Little Lies. It’s by Leon Bridges. Called River or something like that.”

“Hmm.” His hand raised to the space on her lower back, where her dress opened into a V-shape. Her back burned where his fingers made contact with her skin. “You really love that show.”   
  
“It’s really good. I wish you’d watch it with me.”

“Fine. We’ll do it when we get back.”

“Really?”

“Mhm. As long as you promise to make dinner, I’ll be there.”   
  
“Deal.”

He pulled her a little closer, closing the gap between them so they were practically dancing cheek to cheek. She closed her eyes, letting herself just sway with him.

“Hey…um I wanted to thank you. For coming this weekend. You really didn’t have to and I just wanted to thank you for doing this for me.”

She felt his fingers flex against her back. A couple moments passed before he pulled back to meet her eyes. “You don’t have to thank me. I’m glad I came.”

Allie held his gaze and felt momentarily thrown off at how handsome he was. Harry had always been gorgeous and yet, Allie had never felt such a strong urge to press her lips against his as she did at that very moment.

Without thinking too much about it, Allie inched closer. Their noses brushing each other as they breathed each other in. 

And then the song changed and reality hit. 

_ What the fuck was she doing? _

She pulled back sharply and Harry blinked in surprise. “Um-my-my feet hurt. I think I’m gonna go sit down for a while.”

Harry looked like he’d been hit in the head and it took him a while to process what she was saying, but he eventually nodded. “Okay. Do you want a drink?”

Allie nodded. “Yes, please.”

“Okay.”

Allie collapsed back to her seat and brought her foot on to her lap to massage it. She hadn’t lied, her feet  _ did hurt.  _ But mostly she just had to get away from him before she did something stupid. Allie had already broken all of Cassandra’s rules, and she wasn’t going to go and kiss him again when it had gone so terribly the first time. 

It was this cursed resort and this cursed wedding. It made everything seem so romantic.  _ Right _ . It was just the environment that was making her imagine feelings that weren’t there. She just needed a reality check.

She looked over to Harry, seeing where he was with her drink and found him waiting by the bar. He was taking an awfully long time, several songs had already played before he’d even gotten the bartenders attention.

“Hey.”

Allie turned to see Will take the seat Harry had occupied for most of the night. “Hey.”

“I’ve been looking for you.” He offered her his hand, “Come on.”

Allie just stared at him in confusion. “ _ What? _ ”

Will grinned and something in Allie’s stomach tightened. “Come on, dance with me.”

Not a question but a command.

“What about Kelly?” Allie cursed herself in her head. One dance didn’t mean that he was leaving his fiancee for her. 

Will just shrugged. “I can dance with her again later. Now we gotta do our thing!”

“What?”

He raised his eyebrows at her and smirked.

She couldn’t help the smile that crept on her face. “Fast dance to a slow song?”

He clapped, and grinned at her. “Fast dance to a slow song! Come on girl, move.”

“Will, I don’t even know if I remember the moves.”   
  
“I highly doubt that.”

“And my heels are killing me.’

“One song won’t hurt.”

Allie looked out at the dance floor one more time before taking his hand. “Fine, I’ll do it! Just don’t slap me when we do the spin, okay?”

Will smiled back at her and his hand tightened around hers, already pulling her to her feet. They found their way to the center of the dance floor, where all the couple were slow dancing and just enjoying each other. 

Allie laughed as they started their handshake. Her brain might not have remembered the moves specifically but her body certainly did. It had been engraved into her muscles from all the times she and Will danced these at parties. It was their thing. People had asked if they could learn and Will had always been adamant that this was only  _ their thing. _

They finished their routine giggling like they were eighteen all over again. She sat back down on her seat, Will sitting next to her. 

He looked her over with a soft smile. “I missed you, Allie.”

A familiar sense of hope bubbled in her stomach, almost as if by reflex. “I missed you too.”

Will bit his lip and leaned over to tuck a strand of hair that had come loose from her ponytail. Allie stilled at him being in such close proximity. They met each other’s gaze and something in Allie’s heart tightened.

Someone cleared their throat and Allie jumped back. Harry was standing by them, holding their drinks. He stared at Will with a coldness that Allie had never seen before. “You’re in my seat.”

Will stared back at him with a fire just as intense. “That’s okay, I should be getting back to Kel anyways.” He turned back to Allie and his expression softened. “I’ll see you later, Allie.”

Allie gave him a swift smile and scratched the back of her neck. “Yeah, see you.”

And then Will was gone, Harry quickly taking his seat. He handed her her drink without a word.

“Thanks.”

He hummed in reply but didn’t say anything else, instead focusing on his own drink.

Harry kept this cold demeanour the entire night. Allie couldn’t get anything more than mono-syllabic responses from him.

They were walking back to their room when Allie decided she had had enough.

“So are you going to tell me why you’re acting like a jerk?”

“I’m not acting like a jerk.”

“Oh, wow! He speaks. Ladies and gentleman, the boy has finally spoken a sentence with more than a single word.”

“Haha.”

Allie raised her eyebrows at him, and his coldness wavered.

Harry sighed and stopped walking. His jaw shifting with tension. “Allie, I saw you flirting with him.”

She frowned. “Who? Will? I wasn’t flirting, we were just dancing.”

“That’s bullshit.” She winced at the harshness in his tone. “You keep doing this, Allie. You keep letting him play with you when he has no intention to follow through. He’s getting  _ married  _ tomorrow.”

“I-I know that.”

“Do you?” His eyes narrowed. “Because I don’t think you do. I think deep down you just let him play with you because you think there’s an off-chance that someday he’ll feel the same about you. I think that whatever inferiority complex you have because of your sister is causing you to think that you’ll always be someone’s second choice.”

His words hit her like a slap. She stared at him open-mouthed not believing the harsh words he was saying. Where was all this anger coming from?

The harshness in his expression vanished. He took a step toward her, his face open and vulnerable. “But you’re wrong. You deserve so much more than being someone’s second choice. You deserve more than someone who talks down to you and makes you feel like shit all the time.  _ Love is what you deserve, Allie.” _

She frowned. The shifts in conversation just kept catching her off guard. “What are you saying?”

Harry shook his head, searching for something in her expression. “Jesus. You still don’t get it, do you?”

“Get what?”

“That I’m in love with you, Allie!”

He almost yelled the words in what seemed like pent up frustration. Allie’s eyebrows furrowed even further. She wasn’t sure she heard right. He couldn’t be… 

“What?” She whispered.

Harry shook his head and gave her a smile that almost looked defeated. “I’m in love with you, Allie. I have been for a long time. I’ve loved you through late nights at the office. I’ve loved you through all the times you would come over at my desk and tell me something stupid just so you could eat my stash of candy. I’ve loved you most when I had my really bad days and I wanted to do nothing more than stay in bed and you stayed with me and just held my hand in silence.” His eyes were glassy as he smiled at her. “Allie…I am madly, seriously in love with you and I can’t stand by watching you keep hurting yourself like this when you could have so much more.”

He went to reach for her and she took a step back. A part deep inside of her panicking and filling her with a sense of dread at his words.

“Why did you do that? You can’t_–you can’t just do that. Change everything_.”  
  
The words had slipped off her tongue before she could stop them. Words that she had turned over in her head a billion times. Words that she never wished she had heard from the mouth of her best friend. And yet, here she was repeating history. She wondered if her face had fallen as quickly as Harry’s did.

She stepped further away from him, shaking her head as tears started to fall.

Harry’s expression turned desperate and he reached for her again. “Allie…”

She angled out of reach and shook her head harder. Without another word, she turned away from him and ran. 

Why would he say that? Why would he just confess things he had no business feeling.

Allie had made this mistake once, mixing friendship and romance. It hadn’t turned out well and she had tried everything in her power to not let that happen again. And now here was Harry, fucking it all up by opening a can of worms.

He shouldn’t have said that. 

Allie stopped running when she turned a corner. Leaning on the wall for support as she broke into a sob. They couldn’t come back from this. 

She was going to lose him just like she did Will. 

_ Why the fuck would he say that? _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are always appreciated <3


	5. my best friend's wedding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The wedding finally happens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, the final chapter is finally here. I'm still not sure whether I'll write an epilogue, so I'll leave it as completed for now but who knows if I'll write more for them later. Right now though, I doubt it. I don't have any specific ideas atm and writing this chapter felt like writing the end of a romcom which is literally what I wanted this fic to feel like so I don't know if I wanna ruin thatt.
> 
> I listened to SO MUCH Taylor Swift (mostly Everything Has Changed and Daylight) when I wrote this chapter and it SHOWS.
> 
> Writing this fic was actually really fun (after all the frustration of writer's block that lasted months, sorry about that) and it was an absolute honor to write the rom com fic that hallie deserved. They suffer through so much angst on the show, I thought they deserved some fluff and this fic certainly is very fluffy.
> 
> The title of this chapter is named after the Julia Roberts classic "My Best Friend's Wedding".

Allie woke up with a sharp pain in her back. She sat up slowly rubbing the sore spot with one hand and her eyes with the other. She looked around and stopped her movements.

_ What the fuck was she doing on the floor? _

Right. She was sleeping on the floor because this wasn’t her room. She was sleeping on the floor because she had come to Sam and Grizz’s room late last night begging for a place to stay. Because she didn’t want to face Harry after their fight… after he told her he loved her. _ Right. _

“Good morning, sunshine.”

Grizz settled on to the floor next to her and handed her a to-go cup. She groaned in reply but took the cup eagerly. She took a tentative sip, it was chamomile tea. Just the way she liked it. She wasn’t surprised Grizz had remembered. He had always been kind and considerate that way.

“Thanks.”

“No problem.” He took a second to look her over. “So, are you going to tell me why you needed to hide out here? I feel it’s the least you could do after we let you stay here for the night.”

“You made me sleep on the floor.”

“Well, yes because you insisted you didn’t want to be a ‘bigger bother than you had to.’”

Allie pulled a face but didn’t say anything. He was right.

She took another sip of her tea, ignoring his gaze. Grizz sighed. “Come on, Allie. What’s going on?”

Allie closed her eyes and leaned back on the bed behind her. And then she told Grizz everything. She told him about how her and Harry weren’t really dating, about how he came as a favor to help her through this weekend with Will. She told him about how he said he loved her and how she felt like her world was falling apart. And Grizz just listened and looked at her with that compassion and understanding that made him one of the best people she knew.

She finished her rambling, wiping the tears away as they both sat in silence.

Grizz exhaled slowly and leaned back on the bed as well. “Wow… that’s a lot.”

“I know.”

“I have to say though… I’m surprised but also not?”

She frowned at him. “What?”

“I mean about him being in love with you. Allie if you hadn’t told me… I just genuinely believed you guys were in love with each other.”

“Yeah, well… ” She sniffed and wiped her nose with the back of her hand. “It was all just pretend… and then it wasn’t.”

“But Allie, why do you think that’s bad?”

“B-because that’s not how this was supposed to go. This was all meant to be fake, we had _ rules _ and then he just went ahead and fucked that all up.”

“So, do you not feel the same way?”

“I…” Allie found herself without words and swallowed. “I don’t know.”

Grizz nodded slightly, as if he’d been expecting nothing else.

She kept talking, as if she needed to spill all this out or the words would poison her. “It’s just… everything with Will was so confusing and horrible. We were friends and I loved him and then we were not. And he was just so cruel, as if he couldn’t forgive me for ruining our friendship when _ he _ was the one that pushed me away. And now I’m just so scared of losing my best friend all over again.”

Grizz took her hand. “Allie, aren’t you doing the exact same thing to Harry that Will did to you? By pushing him away?”

“I’m not doing that.”  
  
“Really? Didn’t you tell me that you ran away last night? And what do you think you’re doing by hiding out in this room instead of talking to him about it?”  
  
“I just don’t know what I would say to him.”  
  
“Look as much as I consider Will my friend, he was a coward in how he handled your relationship. He ran. And this Allie, the one who’s sitting on my hotel room floor, is being a coward just like him, running away from her feelings because she wants to hold on tightly to a plan that doesn’t work anymore. But the Allie that I know?” He smiled at her. “She’s the bravest person I know and _ she _ can handle anything.”

She sniffed and looked down at their hands. “I don’t think I could handle losing him.”

“Then don’t. But you’re not gonna do that by sitting here wishing it would all just disappear. You gotta get up and talk to him.”

Allie nodded, “I will. Thanks for… everything, Grizz.”

Grizz kissed her temple. “Always.”

She smiled at him once more before picking up herself from the floor. She brushed her dress down, but it didn’t do much to smooth over the horrible creases that had showed up over the night. 

“You want something to wear so you don’t like you’re doing the walk of shame?”  
  
“Yes, please.”

And with a final hug and kiss to Grizz’s cheek, Allie left his room and made her way back to her own. 

She found Harry sitting on the bed, typing something in his phone furiously. He stood up when he saw her. He looked absolutely terrible. His hair was an even bigger mess than usual and he looked like he’d gotten no sleep at all. Concern was laced all over his features.

“Where were you? You disappeared and I texted you a billion times.”  
  
“I’m sorry.” She had never seen him so frantic. “I didn’t mean to worry you, I just needed some space.”

“Oh.” His shoulders sagged, worry fading to give way for regret. “Allie, about what I said–”

“Harry–”

“No, look let me finish.” He took a deep breath, and twisted the ring on his finger. “Look, I know that you don’t feel the same way and that’s okay. I still really, _ really _ want to be your friend, Allie.”

She felt her stomach drop for a reason she couldn’t quite understand. But she told him the truth. “I still want to be your friend too.”

He sighed in relief. “Thank God. So how about we just forget I said anything and just… move on.” 

She pursed her lips, feeling like someone was holding her heart and squeezing tight. She saw this for what it was, a bandaid over a bullet wound. But she nodded and gave him a smile she hoped was reassuring. “I’d like that.”

He smiled a bit in return, obviously relieved she had agreed. “Good. Also, totally off track but what the fuck are you wearing?”  
  
Allie looked down at her outfit and laughed. She was wearing a shirt that was four sizes too big and a pair of yellow basketball shorts. “It’s Grizz’s. I guess, I do look pretty ridiculous.”

“Oh, absolutely.” He grinned at her and _ God _, it hadn’t even been 12 hours since she’d seen that grin but she had missed it. 

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I should start getting ready. The wedding’s in a couple hours after all.”

“_ Right _. Yeah. Do you wanna shower first?”

“Yes, please.”

“Okay.”

Allie had never been one for short showers, but she had to admit that this time she took a little too long. The water was just so warm and she had so many thoughts circling through her head that she needed to file through. Thoughts about Harry and Will and this stupid wedding.

She eventually had to leave the comfort of the steam; she needed as much time as she could get to get ready. 

Harry’s shower took a considerably less amount of time and Allie hadn’t even finished drying her hair by the time he got out. 

Instead of sitting on the bed on his phone like last time, he went out onto the balcony and read a book. Allie hated having that glass door dividing them. It felt so…cold somehow. 

But she got ready anyways, straightening her hair and then curling it into loose, big curls. She tied the front strands of her hair back with a black velvet ribbon. She put on the light blue wrap around dress she’d gotten with Elle. She forgot how beautiful the dress was, and with all the make up her eyes looked even more blue. She slipped on her heels and knocked softly on the glass window. 

Harry looked up from his book and Allie felt her cheeks burn when his eyes trailed down to her leg exposed by the slit. He opened the glass door and Allie noticed he had already done up his tie. 

“You ready to go?”

He didn’t say anything about how she looked and she felt disappointment sit on her stomach. Wait, why was she disappointed? He didn’t owe her anything. They had agreed to be just friends and friends don’t call each other beautiful like they really mean it.

She nodded and tightened her fingers around her clutch. 

They talked as they made their way down to the wedding. It felt a little forced, like they were making conversation to drive out the awkward silence that would come.

They followed the mass of dressed up people and assumed they were going to the right place. They turned a corner and the pathway opened into a big clearing. It was a big cliff, the view showing the vast ocean in front of them. All the chairs were facing a vintage wooden altar, decorated with colorful flowers and vines that trailed down to the floor. 

It was a fairytale wedding. Straight out of all of Allie’s dreams. And yet… the crushing jealousy that she was expecting to hit her all weekend just… didn’t come. Maybe it was because Will wasn’t there. It didn’t feel complete without her best friend waiting at the altar. When that happened it would probably feel real.

“Come on, let’s find our seats.” 

Allie nodded hesitantly and Harry’s hand settled at her lower back to lead her down the rows of chairs. They found some seats next to Sam and Grizz, who both looked dashing in their suits.

They both gave her knowing and scrutinising looks (Grizz had probably told Sam what she had confessed to him) but they said nothing. They just smiled at her like they were none the wiser.

“You look beautiful.” Sam signed to her. 

She smiled and signed back, “So do you.”

“Hi guys,” Becca said, holding Gwen’s hand.

They all chorused back hellos.

“Where’s Eden?” Harry asked.

The eagerness in his face made Allie’s heart melt. Harry had grown so attached to the little girl in the past couple days. Allie thought it was because she reminded him of his little sister

“She’s with the other flower girls.” Gwen answered.

Becca sighed with a smile and looked around. “God, isn’t this place absolutely stunning? I need to take a couple pictures before the wedding starts.” She tugged Gwen’s hand, “We’ll be back."

Allie smiled and watched Becca lead her wife towards the edge of the clearing. Gwen just smiled good-naturedly as Becca took pictures of her with her phone. Allie had always been shocked at how well they got along. Gwen hadn’t been Allie’s favorite person at the start, her abrasive demeanor put her off for a while. But she’d grown on her and Allie saw the _ real _ Gwen. The one who wanted bigger things in life, who wanted to explore and see the world. That’s what brought her and Becca together, that need to go out and _ see _ things. They just clicked and Allie had always admired the way they fit each other in the best way. They were friends, and that’s what made their marriage so strong. 

Allie had always wanted a relationship like that. One born out of friendship and trust that just felt… right. 

Something clicked inside of her at the thought. Some part of her came alive, a part that was _ screaming _ at her and telling her to open her fucking eyes.

Allie turned to look at Harry. He was looking out towards the sea, his mind obviously some place else. She looked over the slope of his nose, the line of his jaw, the way his hair curled against his forehead. 

_ But the most important thing Al, is that if you do feel something that’s unusual or if you see yourself wanting more: you need to talk to him about it. _

“Harry?”

“Hmm?” He faced her and Allie’s heart tightened when his eyes met hers. She just stared at them, all the words leaving her mouth. She kept staring as the emotions in his eyes fleeted from mild curiosity to confusion to an intensity that made her body _ burn _.

She didn’t know how long they sat there and stared at each other. It felt like forever. It didn’t feel like enough.

But the wedding march started to play and Harry broke their stare to face the aisle.

Allie let out a breath she didn’t even know she was holding. She felt like someone had dumped a bucket of cold water over her, washing away all the fire that had consumed her not only seconds ago. 

She looked at the aisle where Will was standing, waiting for his bride. She tried to picture what it would be the one to walk down the aisle to meet him and it felt…wrong. Once, that had been all that she had dreamed about but now…it just didn’t feel right anymore. 

She wasn’t as shocked as she thought she would be at the realization. Maybe because it was something she had known all along, but only let herself acknowledge it now. 

She didn’t love Will and she didn’t want him, not anymore. She had just been chasing a ghost of a feeling she hadn’t felt in years. 

She felt light, letting go of an old grudge that had weighed down on her for God knows how long. 

Allie smiled to herself, thinking that maybe this feeling of peace that settled on her stomach was what people called closure.

Eden walked down the aisle, dropping down flower petals with a delicacy Allie didn’t know the girl had. Eden gave them an extra big smile as she passed them, and Allie felt she would die at how cute her little god daughter was.

They all stood up when Kelly started to walk down the aisle, looking like the radiant bride Allie always knew she would be. Her smile was so big and bright that Allie couldn’t help but smile as well. 

When Kelly got to the aisle, Will took her hand and clung to it tightly. They looked at each other, all smiles and excitement. And Allie felt alright. This was what was meant to be.

She glanced at Harry, and before she could stop herself, she took his hand. It was the simplest of things, and yet Allie felt herself feeling shy and nervous before thankfully, he interlaced his fingers with hers.

She smiled and faced the altar once more. 

The wedding was a blur of vows and happiness and tears. And Allie was half-paying attention to all of it. She was mostly focused on the way Harry’s thumb was brushing against the palm of her hand sending fireworks up her arm and down her spine. 

She wasn’t going to run away from him–or any of this–anymore.

When the ceremony was over, everyone started standing up to make their way to the reception. But Allie stayed put.

Harry stood up and tugged lightly at her hand still clasped in his. “Come on.”

Something of the determination she was feeling must’ve shown in her face because he sat back down next to her without another word.

She brushed her finger against his palm and followed the movement with her eyes. She knew that if she met his stare she would lose her nerves. When she looked up and saw they were finally alone, Allie turned to meet his gaze.

“I was wrong, Harry. About everything. Look…all my life people have looked at me and only seen Cassandra. Even my parents, they were so preoccupied with Cassandra and her heart defect and doting on her for all her accomplishments that they never had time for me.” She started to tear up at the confession but shook those feelings away. His grip tightened around hers but he didn’t interrupt her.

“And when I went to college I finally felt free from her shadow. My friends from Stanford only knew _ me _and I think that’s why I fell for Will so hard. We were so close and I thought that maybe we could be more–but no, but still… I wasn’t enough. I never seem to be enough.”

“Allie–”

“No, don’t interrupt me. I need to get through this, alright?” She looked down at their hands again. “I never thought anyone would ever choose me, and I got used to that feeling of being second best. But then I met _ you _ and even though you still knew Cassandra, you liked me better.” Allie gave a short laugh of disbelief. “That had never happened before in my life. And I think… that I knew I was falling in love with you everyday but I pushed it away because it would complicate things and I might lose you and that feeling and I was so scared.”

She looked up to meet his eyes and her heart quickened at the emotion in his gaze. “I was scared so I ran away, and I pushed you away and I lied to both of us that I thought being friends was enough but it isn’t. And I’m tired of lying, I’m tired of being a coward. Because the truth is that I love you, Harry Bingham.” 

She smiled at him and he stared back at her in disbelief. His eyes searched her face for something before he started to grin at her, that charming, magical grin of his. “You do?”

She nodded, feeling giddy from finally saying. “I do. And there was something I wanted to ask you.”

They inched closer together like magnets who couldn’t help but come together. “Yeah?”

“Mhm.” Her nose brushed his and her smile widened. “Do you want to be my date for this wedding?”

He laughed and she felt it against her lips. “It would be an honor.”

Allie couldn’t take it anymore and closed the gap between their lips. He reacted instantly, using the hand that wasn’t still clasped in hers to rest at her back and pull her closer. She happily complied, her hand raising to hold his cheek. 

And now, Allie didn’t dare lie to herself that any of the fire that she felt roaring under skin was due to any reason besides the man holding tight to her. _ He _ was the one making her see daylight. _ He _ was the making her feel golden and light and just so fucking happy.

They pulled apart, smiling so hard that it hurt. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles, making her feel like she was in a fucking Jane Austen novel. She wasn’t complaining.

“Now, how about we ditch the reception and go to the beach instead.”

Allie smiled and leaned in to give him a soft kiss, just because she could. “Nothing would please me more.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are always appreciated <3


End file.
